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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 

OF 



CONTAINING 

A COLLECTION OF THE MOST INTERESTING FACTS, TRADITIONS, 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, ANECDOTES, ETC. 

RELATING TO ITS 

GEIERAL AID LOCAL HISTORY: 

WITH 

•ESCRIPTIONS OF ITS COUNTIES, PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND 

VILLAGES. 

ILLUSTRATED BY 

17 7 ENGRAVINGS, 

GIVING 

LEWS OF THE CHIEF TOWNS,—PUBLIC BUILDINGS,—RELICS OF ANTI¬ 
QUITY,—HISTORIC LOCALITIES,—NATURAL SCENERY, ETC. 


BY HENRY HOWE. 



CINCINNATI: 

PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY DERBY, BRADLEY & CO. 

Price Three Dollars. 

1847 . 



















* 


K 4 c U 


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, 

By J. W. BARBER & H. HOWE, 

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the District of Conn. 


Ji— 

'2‘Z‘S 0 









PREFACE. 


Introductory to this work, we state some facts of private history. 

In the year 1831, Mr. John W. Barber of New Haven, Ct., prepared a 
work upon that our native city, which combined history, biography and de¬ 
scription, and was illustrated by engravings connected with its rise, progress 
and present condition. Its success suggested to him the preparation of one, on 
a similar plan, relative to the State. For this object he travelled through it, 
from town to town, collecting the materials and taking sketches. After two 
years of industrious application in this, and in writing the volume, the His¬ 
torical Collections of Connecticut was issued, a work which, like its suc¬ 
cessors, was derived from a thousand different sources, oral and published. 

As in the ordinary mode, the circulation of books through “ the trade,” is 
so slow in progress and limited in sale, that no merely local work, however 
meritorious, involving such an unusually heavy outlay of time and expense as 
that, will pay even the mechanical labor, it, as well as its successors, was 
circulated by travelling agents solely , who thoroughly canvassed the state, until 
it found its way into thousands of families in all ranks and conditions,—in 
the retired farm-house equally with the more accessible city mansion. 

That book, so novel in its character, was received with great favor, and 
highly commended by the public press and the leading minds of the state. 
It is true, it did not aspire to high literary merit:—the dignified style,—the 
generalization of facts,—the philosophical deductions of regular history were 
not there. On the contrary, not the least of its merits was its simplicity 
of style, its fullness of detail, introducing minor, but interesting incidents, 
the other, in “ its stately march,” could not step aside to notice, and in avoid¬ 
ing that philosophy which only the scholastic can comprehend. It seemed, 
in its variety, to have something adapted to all ages, classes and tastes, and 
the unlearned reader, if he did not stop to peruse the volume, at least, in 
many instances could derive gratification from the pictorial representation of 
his native village,—of perhaps the very dwelling in which he first drew 
breath, and around which entwined early and cherished associations. The 
book, therefore, reached more minds, and has been more extensively read, 
than any regular state history ever issued; thus adding another to the many 
examples often seen, of the productions of industry and tact, proving of a 
more extended utility than those emanating from profound scholastic ac¬ 
quirements. 

This publication became the pioneer of others : a complete list of all, with 
the dates of their issue, follows : 

1836. The Hist. Coll, of Connecticut ; by John W. Barber. 


1839. 

1841. 

1843. 

1844. 

1845. 
1847. 


Massachusetts 
New York ; 
Pennsylvania ; 
New Jersey ; 
Virginia ; 

Ohio ; 


John W. Barber. 

J. W. Barber and H. Howe. 
Sherman Day . 

J. TV. Barber and H. Howe . 
Henry Howe. 

Henry Howe. 



4 


PREFACE. 


From this list it will be perceived that OHIO makes the seventh state 
work published on the original plan of Mr. Barber, all of which thus far 
circulated, were alike favorably received in the states to which each respect¬ 
ively related. 

Early in January, 1846, we, with some previous time spent in preparation, 
commenced our tour over Ohio, being the fourth state through which we 
have travelled for such an object. We thus passed more than a year, in the 
course of which we were in seventy-nine of its eighty-three counties, took 
sketches of objects of interest, and every where obtained information by con¬ 
versation with ea*ly settlers and men of intelligence. Beside this, we have 
availed ourselves of all published sources of information, and have received 
about four hundred manuscript pages in communications from gentlemen in 
all parts of the state. 

In this way, we are enabled to present a larger and more varied amount 
of materials respecting Ohio, than was ever before embodied ; the whole 
giving a view of its present condition and prospects, with a history of its 
settlement, and incidents illustrating the customs, the fortitude, the bravery, 
and the privations of its early settlers. That such a work, depicting the 
rise and unexampled progress of a powerful state, destined to a controlling 
influence over the well-being of the whole nation, will be looked upon with 
interest, we believe : and furthermore expect, that it will be received in the 
generous spirit which is gratified with honest endeavors to please, rather 
than in the captious one, that is dissatisfied short of an unattainable perfection. 

Whoever expects to find the volume entirely free from defects, has but 
little acquaintance with the difficulties ever attendant upon procuring such ma¬ 
terials. In all of the many historical and descriptive works whose fidelity we 
have had occasion to test, some misstatements were found. Although we 
have taken the best available means to insure accuracy, yet from a variety 
of causes unnecessary here to specify, some errors may have occurred. If 
any thing materially wrong is discovered, any one will confer a favor by ad¬ 
dressing a letter to the publishers, and it shall be corrected. 

Our task has been a pleasant one. As we successively entered the va¬ 
rious counties, we were greeted with the frank welcome, characteristic of 
the west. And an evidence of interest in the enterprize has been variously 
shown, not the least of which, has been by the reception of a mass of valua¬ 
ble communications, unprecedented by us in the course of the seven years 
we have been engaged in these pursuits. To all who have aided us,—to 
our correspondents especially, some of whom have spent much time and re¬ 
search, we feel under lasting obligations, and are enabled by their assistance 
to present to the public a far better work, than could otherwise have been 
produced. H. H. 


OHIO. 


OUTLINE HISTORY.* 


The territory now comprised within the limits of Ohio was for¬ 
merly a part of that vast region claimed by France, between the 
Alleghany and the Rocky Mountains, first known by the general 
name of Louisiana. In 1673, Marquette, a zealous French Mis¬ 
sionary, accompanied with Monsieur Joliet, from Quebec, with five 
boatmen, set out on a mission from Mackinac to the unexplored re¬ 
gions lying south of that station. They passed down the lake to 
Green Bay, thence from Fox River crossed over to the Wisconsin, 
which they followed down to its junction with the Mississippi. 
They descended this mighty stream a thousand miles to its con¬ 
fluence with the Arkansas. On their return to Canada, they did not 
fail to urge, in strong terms, the immediate occupation of the vast 
and fertile regions watered by the Mississippi and its branches. 

On the 7th of August, 1679, M. de la Salle, the French com¬ 
mandant of Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario, launched, upon Lake 
Erie, the Griffin , a bark of about 60 tons, with which he proceeded 
through the Lakes to the Straits of Michillimackinac. Leaving his 
bark at this place, he proceeded up Lake Michigan, and from thence 
to the south west, till he arrived at Peoria Lake, in Illinois. At this 
place he erected a fort, and after having sent Father Lewis Henne¬ 
pin on an exploring expedition, La Salle returned to Canada. In 
1683, La Salle went to France, and, by the representations which he 
made, induced the French Government to fit out an expedition for 
the purpose of planting a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. 
This expedition failed, La Salle being murdered by his own men. 

This disaster did not abate the ardor of the French in their great 
plan of obtaining possession of the vast region westward of the 
English colonies. A second expedition sailed from France, under 
the command of M. D’Iberville. This officer discovered the mouth 
of the Mississippi, and explored the river for several hundred miles. 

* The principal sources from which this outline is derived, are the MSS. of Hon. Thomas 
Scott, of Chillicothe, Secretary of the Convention which framed the constitution of Ohio; 
the historical sketch prefixed to Chase’s Statutes, and Perkins’ Annals of the West. 




6 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


Permanent establishments were made at different points ; and from 
this time the French colony west of the Alleghanies steadily in¬ 
creased in numbers and strength. Previous to the year 1725, the 
colony had been divided into quarters, each having its local gover¬ 
nor, or commandant, and judge, but all subject to the superior au¬ 
thority of the council general of Louisiana. One of these quarters 
was established north west of the Ohio. 

At this period, the French had erected forts on the Mississippi, on 
the Illinois, on the Maumee, and on the lakes. Still, however, the 
communication with Canada was through Lake Michigan. Before 
1750, a French post had been fortified at the mouth of the Wabash ; 
and a communication was established through that river and the 
Maumee with Canada. About the same time, and for the purpose 
of checking the progress of the French, the Ohio Company was 
formed, and made some attempts to establish trading houses among 
the Indians. The French, however, established a chain of fortifica¬ 
tions back of the English settlements, and thus, in a measure, had 
the entire control of the great Mississippi valley. The English go¬ 
vernment became alarmed at the encroachments of the French, and 
attempted to settle boundaries by negotiations. These availed no¬ 
thing, and both parties were determined to settle their differences by 
the force of arms. 

The claims of the different European monarchs to large portions 
of the western continent were based upon the first discoveries made 
by their subjects. In 1609, the English monarch granted to the 
London Company, all the territories extending along the coast for 
two hundred miles north and south from Point Comfort, and “ up 
into the land , throughout , from sea to sea , west and north-west.” 
In 1662, Charles II. granted to certain settlers upon the Connecticut 
all the territory between the parallels of latitude which include the 
present State of Connecticut, from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. 
The claims which Massachusetts advanced, during the revolution, 
to an interest in the western lands, were founded upon a similar 
charter, granted thirty years afterwards. 

When the king of France had dominions in North America, the 
whole of the late territory of the United States, north-west of the 
river Ohio, was included in the province of Louisiana, the north 
boundary of which, by the treaty of Utrecht, concluded between 
France and England in 1713, was fixed at the 49th parallel of lati¬ 
tude north of the Equator. After the conquest of the French pos¬ 
sessions in North America by Great Britain, this tract was ceded by 
France to Great Britain, by the treaty of Paris, in 1763. 

The principal ground whereon the English claimed dominion 
beyond the Alleghanies was, that the Six Nations owned the Ohio 
valley, and had placed it with their other lands under the protection 
of England. Some of the western lands were also claimed by the 
British as having been actually purchased, at Lancaster, Penn., in 
1744, at a treaty between the colonists and the Six Nations at that 
place. In 1748, the “ Ohio Company,” for the purpose of securing 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


7 


the Indian trade, was formed. In 1749, it appears that the English 
built a trading house upon the Great Miami, at a spot since called 
Loramie’s Store. In 1751, Christopher Gist, an agent of the Ohio 
Company, who was appointed to examine the western lands, made 
a visit to the Twigtwees, who lived upon the Miami river, about one 
hundred miles from its mouth. 

Early in 1752, the French having heard of the trading house on 
the Miami, sent a party of soldiers to the Twigtwees and demanded 
the traders as intruders upon French lands. The Twigtwees re¬ 
fused to deliver up their friends. The French, assisted by the Ot- 
tawas and Chippewas, then attacked the trading house, which was 
probably a block house, and after a severe battle, in which fourteen 
of the natives were killed and others wounded, took and destroyed 
it, carrying away the traders to Canada. This fort, or trading house, 
was called, by the English, Pickawillany. Such was the first British 
settlement in the Ohio valley, of which we have any record. 

After Braddock’s defeat, in 1755, the Indians pushed their excur¬ 
sions as far east as the Blue Ridge. In order to repel them, Major 
Lewis, in Jan., 1756, was sent with a party of troops on an expedi¬ 
tion against the Indian towns on the Ohio. The point apparently 
aimed at was the upper Shawanese town, situated on the Ohio, three 
miles above the mouth of the Great Kanawha. The attempt proved 
a failure, in consequence, it is said, of the swollen state of the 
streams, and the treachery of the guides. In 1764, Gen. Bradstreet, 
having dispersed the Indian forces besieging Detroit, passed into the 
Wyandot country by way of Sandusky Bay. He ascended the bay 
and river as far as it was navigable for boats, and there made a 
camp. A treaty of peace was signed by the Chiefs and head men. 
The Shawnees of the Scioto river, and the Delawares of the Mus¬ 
kingum, however, still continued hostile. Col. Boquet, in 1764, with 
a body of troops, marched from Fort Pitt into the heart of the 
Ohio country on the Muskingum river. This expedition was con¬ 
ducted with great prudence and skill, and without scarcely any loss 
of life, as treaty of peace was effected with the Indians, who re¬ 
stored the prisoners they had captured from the white settlements. 
The next war with the Indians was in 1774, generally known as 
Lord Dunmore’s. In the summer of that year, an expedition, under 
Col. M‘Donald, was'IW i'tdcI at Wheeling, marched into the Muskin¬ 
gum country and destroyed the Indian town of Wapatomica, a few 
miles above the site of Zanesville. In the fall, the Indians were de¬ 
feated after a hard fought battle at Point Pleasant, on the Virginia 
side of the Ohio. Shortly after this event, Lord Dunmore made 
peace with the Indians at Camp Charlotte, in what is now Picka¬ 
way count y. 

During the revolutionary war, most of the western Indians were 
more or less united against the Americans. In the fall of 1778, an 
expedition against Detroit was projected. As a preliminary step, it 
was resolved that the forces in the west, under Gen. M‘Intosh, should 
move up and attack the Sandusky Indians. Preliminary to this, 


8 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


Fort Laurens, so called in honor of the President of Congress, was 
built upon the Tuscarawas, a short distance below the site of Bolivar, 
Tuscarawas county. The expedition to Detroit was abandoned and 
the garrison of Fort Laurens, after suffering much from the Indians 
and from famine, were recalled in August, 1779. A month or two 
previous to the evacuation of this fort, Col. Bowman headed an ex¬ 
pedition against the Shawanees. Their village, Chillicothe, three 
miles north of the site of Xenia, on the Little Miami, was burnt. 
The warriors showed an undaunted front, and the whites were 
forced to retreat. In the summer of 1780, an expedition directed 
against the Indian towns, in the forks of the Muskingum, moved from 
Wheeling, under Gen. Broadhead. This expedition, known as “the 
Coshocton campaign,” was unimportant in its results. In the same 
summer, Gen. Clark led a body of Kentuckians against the Shaw- 
nees. Chillicothe, on the Little Miami, was burnt on their approach, 
but at Piqua, their town on the Mad River, six miles below the site 
of Springfield, they gave battle to the whites and were defeated. 
In September, 1782, this officer led a second expedition against the 
Shawanese. Their towns, Upper and Lower Piqua, on the Miami, 
within what is now Miami county, were destroyed, together with 
the store of a trader. 

There were other expeditions into the Indian country from Ken¬ 
tucky, which, although of later date, we mention in this connection. 
In 1786, Col. Logan conducted a successful expedition against the 
Mackachack towns, on the head waters of Mad River, in what is 
now Logan county. Edwards, in 1787, led an expedition to the 
head waters of the Big Miami, and, in 1788, Todd led one into the 
Scioto valley. There were also several minor expeditions, at various 
times, into the present limits of Ohio. 

The Moravian missionaries, prior to the war of the revolution, 
had a number of missionary stations within the limits of Ohio. The 
missionaries, Heckewelder and Post, were on the Muskingum as 
early as 1762. In March, 1782, a party of Americans, under Col. 
Williamson, murdered, in cold blood, ninety-four of the defenceless 
Moravian Indians, within the present limits of Tuscarawas county. 
In the June following, Col. Crawford, at the head of about 500 men, 
was defeated by the Indians, three miles north of the site of Upper 
Sandusky, in Wyandot county. Col. Crawford was taken prisoner 
in the retreat, and burnt at the stake with horrible tortures. 

By an act of the Parliament of Great Britain, passed in 1774, the 
whole of the late north-western Territory was annexed to, and made 
a part of, the province of Quebec, as created and established by the 
royal proclamation of the 7th of October, 1763. But nothing therein 
contained, relative to the boundary of the said province of Quebec, 
was in any wise to affect the boundaries of any other colony. 

The colonies having, in 1776, renounced their allegiance to the 
British king, and assumed rank as free, sovereign and independent 
States, each State claimed the right of soil and jurisdiction over the 
district of country embraced within its charter. The charters of 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


9 


several of the States embraced large portions of western unappro¬ 
priated lands. Those States which had no such charters, insisted 
that these lands ought to be appropriated for the benefit of all the 
States, according to their population, as the title to them, if secured 
at all, would be by the blood and treasure of all the States. Con¬ 
gress repeatedly urged upon those States owming western unappro¬ 
priated lands, to make liberal cessions of them for the common bene¬ 
fit of all. 

The claim of the English monarch to the late north-western Ter¬ 
ritory was ceded to the United States, by the treaty of peace, signed 
at Paris, September 3d, 1783. The provisional articles which 
formed the basis of that treaty, more especially as related to the 
boundary, were signed at Paris, November 30th, 1782. During the 
pendency of the negociation relative to these preliminary articles, 
Mr. Oswald, the British commissioner, proposed the river Ohio as 
the western boundary of the United States, and but for the indomit¬ 
able perseverance of the revolutionary patriot, John Adams, one of 
the American commissioners, who opposed the proposition, and in¬ 
sisted upon the Mississippi as the boundary, the probability is, that 
the proposition of Mr. Oswald would have been acceded to by the 
United States commissioners. 

The States who owned western unappropriated lands, with a 
single exception, redeemed their respective pledges by ceding them 
to the United States. The State of Virginia, in March, 1784, ceded 
the right of soil and jurisdiction to the district of country embraced 
in her charter, situated to the north-west of the river Ohio. In Sep¬ 
tember, 1786, the State of Connecticut also ceded her claim of soil 
and jurisdiction to the district of country within the limits of her 
charter, situated west of a line beginning at the completion of the 
forty-first point degree of north latitude, one hundred and twenty 
miles west of the western boundary of Pennsylvania; and from 
thence by a line drawn north parallel to, and one hundred and 
twenty miles west of said line of Pennsylvania, and to continue 
north until it came to forty-two degrees and two minutes north lati¬ 
tude. The State of Connecticut, on the 30th of May, 1801, also 
ceded her jurisdictional claims to all that territory called the “ West¬ 
ern Reserve of Connecticut.” The States of New York and Massa¬ 
chusetts also ceded all their claims. 

The above were not the only claims which had to be made prior 
to the commencement of settlements within the limits of Ohio. 
Numerous tribes of Indian savages, by virtue of prior possession, 
asserted their respective claims, which also had to be extinguished. 
A treaty for this purpose was accordingly made at Fort Stanwix, 
October 27th, 1784, with the Sachems and warriors of the Mohawks, 
Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas, and Tuscaroras; by the 
third article of which treaty, the said Six Nations ceded to the United 
States all claims to the country west of a line extending along the 
west boundary of Pennsylvania, from the mouth of the Oyounayea 
to the river Ohio. 


2 


10 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


A treaty was also concluded at Fort McIntosh, January 21st, 1785, 
with the Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa, and Ottawa nations, by 
which the boundary line between the United States and the Wyan¬ 
dot and Delaware nations was declared to begin “ at the mouth of 
the river Cuyahoga, and to extend up said river to the Portage, be¬ 
tween that and the Tuscaroras branch of the Muskingum, thence 
down that branch to the crossing place above Fort Laurens, then 
westerly to the Portage of the Big Miami, which runs into the Ohio, 
at the mouth of which branch the fort stood which was taken by the 
French, in 1752 ; then along said Portage to the Great Miami, or 
Omee river, and down the south side of the same to its mouth; then 
along the south shore of Lake Erie to the mouth of the Cuyahoga 
river, where it began.” The United States allotted all the lands 
contained within said lines to the Wyandot and Delaware nations, 
to live and hunt on, and to such of the Ottawa nation as lived there¬ 
on ; saving and reserving for the establishment of trading posts, six 
miles square at the mouth of the Miami, or Omee river, and the 
same at the Portage, on that branch of the Big Miami which runs 
into the Ohio, and the same on the Lake of Sandusky where the fort 
formerly stood, and also two miles square on each side of the Lower 
Rapids of Sandusky river. 

The Indian title to a large part of the territory within the limits 
of Ohio having been extinguished, legislative action on the part of 
Congress became necessary before settlements were commenced ; 
as in the treaties made with the Indians, and in the acts of Congress, 
all citizens of the United States were prohibited settling on the lands 
of the Indians, as well as on those of the United States. Ordinan¬ 
ces were accordingly made by Congress for the government of the 
North-western Territory, and for the survey and sale of portions of 
lands to which the Indian title had been extinguished. 

In May, 1785, Congress passed an ordinance for ascertaining the 
mode of disposing of these lands. Under that ordinance, the first 
seven ranges, bounded on the east by Pennsylvania, and on the 
south by the Ohio river, were surveyed. Sales of parts of these 
were made at New York, in 1787, the avails of which amounted to 
$72,974, and sales of other parts of said range were made at Pitts¬ 
burg and Philadelphia, in 1796. The avails of sales made at the 
former place amounted to $43,446, and at the latter, $5,120. A 
portion of these lands were located under United States military 
land warrants. No further sales were made in that district until the 
Land Office was opened at Steubenville, July 1st, 1801. 

On the 27th of October, 1787, a contract in writing was entered 
into between the Board of Treasury for the United States of Amer¬ 
ica, of the one part, and Manassah Cutler and Winthrop Sargeant, 
as agents for the directors of the New England Ohio Company of 
associates, of the other part, for the purchase of the tract of land 
bounded by the Ohio, from the mouth of the Scioto to the intersec¬ 
tion of the western boundary of the seventh range of townships then 
surveying; thence by said boundary to the northern boundary of 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


11 


the tenth township from the Ohio; thence by a due west line to 
Scioto ; thence by the Scioto to the beginning. The bounds of that 
contract were afterwards altered in 1792. The settlement of this 
purchase commenced at Marietta, at the mouth of the Muskingum 
river, in the spring of 1788, and was the first settlement formed within 
the limits of Ohio. An attempt at settlement within the bounds of 
Ohio had been made in April, 1785, at the mouth of the Scioto, on 
the site of Portsmouth, by four families from Redstone, Pa.; but diffi¬ 
culties with the Indians compelled its abandonment. 

The same year in which Marietta was first settled, Congress ap¬ 
pointed Gen. Arthur St. Clair, an officer of the revolution, Governor; 
Winthrop Sargeant, Secretary; and the Hon. Samuel Holden Par¬ 
sons, James Mitchell Varnum, and John Cleves Symmes, Judges; 
in, and over the Territory. The territorial government was orga¬ 
nized, and sundry laws were made, or adopted, by the Governor 
and Judges Parsons and Varnum. The county of Washington, 
having its limits extended westward to the Scioto, and northward to 
Lake Erie, embracing about half the territory within the present 
limits of the State, was established by the proclamation of the Go¬ 
vernor. 

On the 15th of October, 1788, John Cleves Symmes, in behalf of 
himself and his associates, contracted with the Board of Treasury 
for the purchase of a large tract of land situated between the Great 
and Little Miami river, and the first settlement within the limits of 
that purchase, and second in Ohio, was commenced in November of 
that year, at Columbia, at the mouth of the Little Miami, five miles 
above the site of Cincinnati. 

“A short time after the settlement at Marietta had commenced, an 
association was formed under the name of the “ Scioto Land Com¬ 
pany, ” A contract was made for the purchase of a part of the lands 
included in the Ohio Company’s purchases. Plats and descriptions 
of the land contracted for, were, however, made out, and Joel Barlow 
was sent as an agent to Europe to make sales of the lands for the 
benefit of the company; and sales were effected of parts thereof to 
companies and individuals in France. On February 19th, 1790, two 
hundred and eighteen of these purchasers left Havre de Grace, in 
France, and arrived in Alexandria, D. C., on the 3d of May follow¬ 
ing. During their passage, two were added to their number. On 
their arrival, they were told that the Scioto Company owned no 
land. The agent insisted that they did, and promised to secure to 
them good titles thereto, which he did, at Winchester, Brownsville, 
and Charleston (now Wellsburg). When they arrived at Marietta, 
about fifty of them landed. The rest of the company proceeded to 
Gallipolis, which was laid out about that time, and were assured by 
the agent that the place lay within their purchase. Every effort to 
secure titles to the lands they had purchased having failed, an appli¬ 
cation was made to Congress, and in June, 1798, a grant was made 
to them of a tract of land on the Ohio, above the mouth of the Scioto 
river, which is called the * French Grant.' ” 


12 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


The Legislature of Connecticut, in May, 1795, appointed a com¬ 
mittee to receive proposals and make sale of the lands she had re¬ 
served in Ohio. This committee sold the lands to sundry citizens 
of Connecticut and other States, and, in September of the same year, 
executed to several purchasers deeds of conveyance therefor. The 
purchasers proceeded to survey into townships of five miles square 
the whole of said tract lying east of the Cuyahoga; they made di¬ 
visions thereof according to their respective proportions, and com¬ 
menced settlements in many of the townships, and there were actu¬ 
ally settled therein, by the 21st of March, 1800, about one thousand 
inhabitants. A number of mills had been built, and roads cut in 
various directions to the extent of about 700 miles. 

The location of the lands appropriate for satisfying military land 
bounty warrants in the district appropriated for that purpose, granted 
for services in the revolutionary war, commenced on March 13th, 
1800 ; and the location of the lands granted to the Canadian and 
Nova Scotia refugees commenced February 13th, 1802. The lands 
east of the Scioto, south of the military bounty lands, and west of 
the fifteenth range of townships, were first brought into market, and 
offered for sale by the United States on the first Monday of May, 
1801. 

The State of Virginia, at an early period of the revolutionary war, 
raised two description of troops, State and Continental , to each of 
which bounties in land were promised. The lands within the limits 
of her charter, situate to the north-west of Ohio river, were with¬ 
drawn from appropriation on treasury warrants, and the lands on 
Cumberland river, and between the Green and Tennessee rivers on 
the south-easterly side of the Ohio, were appropriated for these mili¬ 
tary bounties. Upon the recommendation of Congress, Virginia 
ceded her lands north of the Ohio, upon certain conditions ; one of 
which was, that in case the lands south of Ohio should be insufficient 
for their legal bounties to their troops, the deficiency should be made 
up from lands north of the Ohio, between the rivers Scioto and 
Little Miami. 

In 1783, the Legislature of Virginia authorized the officers of their 
respective lines to appoint superintendants to regulate the survey of 
the bounty lands promised. Richard C. Anderson was appointed 
principal surveyor of the lands of the troops of the continental estab¬ 
lishment. An office for the reception of locations and surveys was 
opened at Louisville, Kentucky, August 1st, 1784, and on the 1st of 
August, 1787, the said office was open for the reception of surveys 
and locations on the north side of the Ohio. 

In the year 1787, January 9th, a treaty was made at Fort Harmer, 
between Gov. St. Clair and the Sachems and warriors of the Wyan¬ 
dot, Chippewa,, Potawatomie, and Sac nations, in which the treaty 
at Fort McIntosh was renewed and confirmed. It did not, however, 
produce the favorable results anticipated. The Indians,’ the same’ 
year, assuming a hostile appearance, were seen hovering round the 
infant settlements near the mouth of the Muskingum and between 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


13 


the Miamies, and nine persons were killed within the bounds of 
Symmes’ purchase. The new settlers became alarmed and erected 
block-houses in each of the new settlements. In June, 1789, Major 
Doughty, with 140 men, from Fort Harmar, commenced the building 
of Fort Washington, on a spot now within the present limits of Cin¬ 
cinnati. A few months afterwards, Gen. Harmar arrived, with 300 
men, and took command of the fort. 

Negociations with the Indians proving unavailing, Gen. Harmar 
was directed to attack their towns. In pursuance of his instructions, 
he marched from Cincinnati, in September, 1790, with 1,300 men, of 
whom less than one-fourth were regulars. When near the Indian 
villages, on the Miami of the lake in the vicinity of what is now 
Fort Wayne, an advanced detachment of 210, consisting chiefly of 
militia, fell into an ambush and was defeated with severe loss. Gen. 
Harmar, however, succeeded in burning the Indian villages, and in 
destroying their standing corn, and having effected this service, the 
army commenced its march homeward. They had not proceeded 
far when Harmar received intelligence that the Indians had returned 
to their ruined towns. He immediately detached about one-third of 
his remaining force, under the command of Col. Hardin, with orders 
to bring them to an engagement. He succeeded in this early the 
next morning ; the Indians fought with great fury, and the militia 
and the regulars alike behaved with gallantry. More than one hun¬ 
dred of the militia, and all the regulars except nine, were killed, and 
the rest were driven back to the main body. Dispirited by this 
severe misfortune, Harmar immediately marched to Cincinnati, and 
the object of the expedition in intimidating the Indians was entirely 
unsuccessful. 

As the Indians continued hostile, a new army, superior to the 
former, was assembled at Cincinnati, under the command of Gov. 
St. Clair. The regular force amounted to 2,300 men; the militia 
numbered about 600. With this army, St. Clair commenced his 
march towards the Indian towns on the Maumee. Two forts, 
Hamilton and Jefferson, were established and garrisoned on the 
route, about forty miles from each other. Misfortune attended the 
expedition almost from its commencement. Soon after leaving Fort 
Jefferson, a considerable party of the militia deserted in a body. 
The first regiment, under Major Hamtramck, was ordered to pursue 
them and to secure the advancing convoys of provisions, which it 
was feared they designed to plunder. Thus weakened by desertion 
and division, St. Clair approached the Indian villages. On the third 
of November, 1791, when at what is now the line of Darke and 
Mercer counties, he halted, intending to throw up some slight forti¬ 
fication for the protection of baggage, and to await the return of the 
absent regiment. On the following morning, however, about half 
an hour before sun rise, the American army was attacked with great 
fury, as there is good reason to believe, by the whole disposable 
force of the north-west tribes. The Americans were totally de¬ 
feated. Gen. Butler and upwards of six hundred men were killed. 


14 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


Indian outrages of every kind were now multiplied, and emigration 
was almost entirely suspended. 

President Washington now urged forward the vigorous prosecu¬ 
tion of the war for the protection of the North-west Territory ; but 
various obstacles retarded the enlistment and organization of a new 
army. In the spring of 1794, the American army assembled at 
Greenville, in Darke county, under the command of Gen. Anthony 
Wayne, a bold, energetic and experienced officer of the revolution. 
His force consisted of about two thousand regular troops, and fifteen 
hundred mounted volunteers from Kentucky. The Indians had col¬ 
lected their whole force, amounting to about two thousand men, 
near a British fort, erected since the treaty of 1783, in violation Of 
its obligations, at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee. On the 20th 
of August, 1794, Gen. Wayne encountered the enemy, and after a 
short and deadly conflict, the Indians fled in the greatest confusion, 
and were pursued under the guns of the British fort. After destroy¬ 
ing all the houses and corn fields above and below the British fort, 
on the Maumee, the victorious army returned to the mouth of Au 
Glaize, where Wayne erected Fort Defiance. Previous to this ac¬ 
tion, various fruitless attempts had been made to bring the Indians 
to peace. Some of the messengers sent among the Indians for that 
object were murdered. 

The victory of Wayne did not at first reduce the savages to sub¬ 
mission. Their country was laid waste, and forts were erected in 
the heart of their territory before they could be entirely subdued. 
At length, however, they became thoroughly convinced of their in¬ 
ability to resist the American arms and sued for peace. A grand 
council was held at Greenville, where eleven of the most powerful 
north-western tribes were represented, to whom Gen. Wayne dic¬ 
tated the terms of pacification. The boundary established by the 
treaty at Fort McIntosh was confirmed and extended westward from 
Loramie’s to Fort Recovery, and thence south-west to the mouth of 
Kentucky river. The Indians agreed to acknowledge the United 
States as their sole protector, and never to sell their lands to any 
other power. Upon these and other conditions, the United States 
received the Indian nations into their protection. A large quantity 
of goods was delivered to them on the spot, and perpetual annuities, 
payable in merchandise, &c., were promised to each tribe who be¬ 
came a party to the treaty. 

While the war with the Indians continued, of course, but little 
progress was made in the settlement in the west. The next county 
that was established after that of Washington, in 1788, was Hamil¬ 
ton, erected in 1790. Its bounds included the country between the 
Miamies, extending northward from the Ohio river, to a line drawn 
due east from the standing stone forks of the Great Miami. The 
name of the settlement opposite the Licking was, at this time, called 
Cincinnati. 

At this period, there was no fixed seat of government. The laws 
were passed whenever they seemed to be needed, and promulgated 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


15 


at any place where the territorial legislators happened to be as¬ 
sembled. In 1789, the first Congress passed an act recognizing the 
binding force of the ordinance of 1787, and adapting its provisions 
to the federal constitution. At this period, the judges appointed by 
the national executive constituted the supreme court of the terri¬ 
tory. Inferior to this court, were the county court, courts of com¬ 
mon pleas, and the general quarter sessions of the peace. Single 
judges of the common pleas, and single justices of the quarter ses¬ 
sions, were also clothed with certain civil and criminal powers to be 
exercised out of court. 

In 1795, the governor and judges undertook to revise the terri¬ 
torial laws, and to establish a system of statutory jurisprudence, by 
adoptions from the laws of the original States, in conformity to the 
ordinance. For this purpose they assembled in Cincinnati, in June, 
and continued in session until the latter part of August. The general 
court was fixed at Cincinnati and Marietta ; other courts were 
established, and laws and regulations were adopted for various 
purposes. 

The population of the territory now continued to increase and ex¬ 
tend. From Marietta, settlers spread into the adjoining country. 
The Virginia military reservation drew a considerable number of 
revolutionary veterans, and others, from that State. The region 
between the Miamies, from the Ohio far up toward the sources of 
Mad river, became chequered with farms, and abounded in indica¬ 
tions of the presence of an active and prosperous population. The 
neighborhood of Detroit became populous, and Connecticut, by 
grants of land within the tract, reserved in her deed of cession, in¬ 
duced many of her hardy citizens to seek a home on the borders of 
Lake Erie. In 1796, Wayne county was established, including all 
the north-western part of Ohio, a large tract in the north-eastern 
part of Indiana, and the whole territory of Michigan. In July, 1797, 
Adams county was erected, comprehending a large tract lying on 
both sides of Scioto, and extending northward to Wayne. Other 
counties were afterwards formed out of those already established. 
Before the end of the year 1798, the North-west Territory contained 
a population of five thousand free male inhabitants, of full age, and 
eight organized counties. 

The people were now entitled, under the ordinance of 1787, to a 
change in their form of government. That instrument provided that 
whenever there were five thousand free males, of full age, in the 
territory, the people should be authorized to elect representatives to 
a territorial legislature. These, when chosen, were to nominate ten 
freeholders of 500 acres, of whom the president was to appoint five, 
who were to constitute the legislative council. Representatives 
were to serve two, and councilmen five years. The first meeting 
of the territorial legislature was appointed on the 16th of September, 
1799, but it was not till the 24th of the same month that the two 
houses were organized for business; at which time they were ad¬ 
dressed by Gov. St. Clair. An act was passed to confirm and give 


16 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


force to those laws enacted by the governor and judges, whose valid¬ 
ity had been doubted. This act, as well as every other which origi¬ 
nated in the council, was prepared and brought forward by Jacob 
Burnet, afterwards a distinguished judge and senator, to whose 
labors, at this session, the territory was indebted for some of its most 
beneficial laws. The whole number of acts passed and approved 
by the governor was thirty-seven. William H. Harrison, then sec¬ 
retary of the territory, was elected as delegate to Congress, having 
eleven of twenty-one votes. 

“ Within a few months after the close of this session, Connecticut 
ceded to the United States her claim of jurisdiction over the north¬ 
eastern part of the territory ; upon which the president conveyed, 
by patent, the fee of the soil to the governor of the State, for the 
use of grantees and purchasers claiming under her. This tract, in 
the summer of the same year, was erected into a new county by the 
name of Trumbull. The same congress which made a final arrange¬ 
ment with Connecticut, passed an act dividing the North-western 
Territory into two governments, by a line drawn from the mouth of 
the Kentucky to Fort Recovery, and thence northward to the terri¬ 
torial line. East of this line, the government, already established, 
was continued; while west of it another, substantially similar, was 
established. This act fixed the seat of the eastern government at 
Chillicothe; subject, however, to be removed at the pleasure of the 
legislature.” 

On the 30th of April, 1802, Congress passed an act authorizing the 
call of a convention to form a State constitution. This convention 
assembled at Chillicothe, November 1st, and, on the 29th of the same 
month, a constitution of State government was ratified and signed 
by the members of the convention. It was never referred to the 
people for their approbation, but became the fundamental law of the 
State by the act of the convention alone; and, by this act, Ohio be¬ 
came one of the States of the Federal Union. 

“Besides framing the constitution, the convention had another 
duty to perform. The act of congress, providing for the admission 
of the new State into the Union, offered certain propositions to the 
people. These were, first, that section sixteen in each township, or, 
where that section had been disposed of, other contiguous and equi¬ 
valent lands, should be granted to the inhabitants for the use of 
schools ; second, that thirty-eight sections of land, where salt-springs 
had been found, of which one township was situated on the Scioto, 
one section on the Muskingum, and one section in the United States 
military tract, should be granted to the State, never, however, to be 
sold or leased for a longer term than ten years ; and third, that one- 
twentieth of the proceeds of public lands sold within the State, 
should be applied to the construction of roads from the Atlantic, to 
and through the same. These propositions were offered on the con¬ 
dition that the convention should provide, by ordinance, that all 
lands sold by the United States after the thirtieth day of June, 1802, 
should be exempt from taxation, by the State, for five years after sale! 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


17 


“ The ordinance of 1785, had already provided for the appropria¬ 
tion of section sixteen to the support of schools in every township 
sold by the United States; and this appropriation thus became a 
condition of the sale and settlement of the western country. It was 
a consideration offered to induce purchases of public lands, at a time 
when the treasury was well-nigh empty, and this source of revenue 
was much relied upon. It extended to every township of land 
within the territory, except those in the Virginia military reserva¬ 
tion and wherever the reserved section had been disposed of, after 
the passage of the ordinance, Congress was bound to make other 
equivalent provision for the same object. The reservation of sec¬ 
tion sixteen, therefore, could not, in 1802, be properly made the ob¬ 
ject of a new bargain between the United States and the State : and 
many thought that the salt reservations and the twentieth of the 
proceeds of the public lands were very inadequate equivalents for 
the proposed surrender of the right to tax. The convention, how¬ 
ever, determined to accept the propositions of Congress, on their 
being so far enlarged and modified as to vest in the State, for the 
use of schools, section sixteen in each township sold by the United 
States, and three other tracts of land, equal in quantity, respectively, 
to one thirty-sixth of the Virginia reservation, of the United States 
military tract, and of the Connecticut reserve, and to give three per 
centum of the proceeds of the public lands sold within the State, to 
be applied under the direction of the legislature, to roads in Ohio. 
Congress assented to the proposed modifications, and thus completed 
the compact.” 

The first General Assembly under the State constitution met at 
Chilicothe, March 1st, 1803. The legislature enacted such laws as 
were deemed necessary for the new order of things, introduced by 
the constitution, and made 8 new counties, viz.: Gallia, Scioto, Geauga, 
Butler, Warren, Green, and Montgomery. The first State officers 
elected by the assembly were as follows, viz.: Michael Baldwin, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives; Nathaniel Massie , Speaker 
of the Senate ; William Creighton, Jr ., Secretary of State ; Col. 
Thomas Gibson , Auditor ; William McFarland, Treasurer ; Return 
J. Meigs, Jr., Samuel Huntington, and William Sprigg, Judges of 
the Supreme Court; Francis Dunlavy, Wyllys Silliman, and Calvin 
Pease, Judges of the District Courts. 

The second General Assembly convened in December, 1803. At 
this session, the militia law was thoroughly revised and a law was 
passed to enable aliens to enjoy the same proprietary rights in Ohio 
as native citizens. At this session, also, the revenue system of the 
State was simplified and improved. Acts were passed providing for 
the incorporation of townships, and for the establishment of boards 
of commissioners of counties. 

In 1805, by a treaty with the Indians at Fort Industry, the United 
States acquired, for the use of the grantees of Connecticut, all that 
part of the western reserve which lies west of the Cuyahoga. By 
subsequent treaties, all the country watered by the Maumee and the 

3 


18 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


Sandusky have been acquired, and the Indian title to lands in Ohio 
is now extinct. 

In the course of the year 1805, the conspiracy of Aaron Burr 
began to agitate the western country. The precise scope of the 
conspiracy does not distinctly appear. “ The immediate object, 
probably, was to seize on New Orleans and invade Mexico. The 
ulterior purpose may have been to detach the west from the Ameri¬ 
can Union. In December, 1806, in consequence of a confidential 
message from the governor, founded on the representations of an 
agent of the general government deputed to watch the motions of 
Burr, the legislature passed an act authorizing the arrest of persons 
engaged in an unlawful enterprise, and the seizure of their goods. 
Under this act, ten boats, with a considerable quantity of arms, am¬ 
munition, and provisions, belonging to Burr’s expedition, were seized. 
This was a fatal blow to the project.” 

The Indians, who since the treaty at Greenville had been at peace, 
about the year 1810, began to commit aggressions upon the inhabi¬ 
tants of the west. The celebrated Tecumseh was conspicuously 
active in his efforts to unite the native tribes against the Americans, 
and to arrest the farther extension of the settlements. His proceed¬ 
ings, and those of his brother, 4 the Prophet ,’ soon made it evident 
that the west was about to suffer the calamities of another Indian 
war, and it was resolved to anticipate their movements. In 1811, 
Gen. Harrison, then governor of Indiana Territory, marched against 
the town of the ‘Prophet,’ upon the Wabash. The battle of Tip¬ 
pecanoe ensued, in what is now Cass county, Indiana, in which 
the Indians were totally defeated. This year was also distinguish¬ 
ed by an occurrence of immense importance to the whole west. 
This was the voyage, from Pittsburg to New Orleans, of the first 
steamboat ever launched upon the western waters. 

“ In June, 1812, the United States declared war against Great 
Britain. Of this war the west was a principal theatre. Defeat, 
disaster, and disgrace marked its opening scenes; but the latter 
events of the contest were a series of splendid achievements. 
Croghan’s gallant defence of Fort Stephenson ; Perry’s victory upon 
Lake Erie ; the total defeat, by Harrison, of the allied British and 
savages, under Proctor and Tecumseh, on the Thames; and the. 
great closing triumph of Jackson at New Orleans, reflected the most 
brilliant lustre upon the American arms. In every vicissitude of 
this contest, the conduct of Ohio was eminently patriotic and honor¬ 
able. When the necessities of the national government compelled 
congress to resort to a direct tax, Ohio, for successive years, cheer¬ 
fully assumed, and promptly paid her quota out of her State trea¬ 
sury. Her sons volunteered with alacrity their services in the field; 
and no troops more patiently endured hardship or performed better 
service. Hardly a battle was fought in the north-west, in which 
some of these brave citizen soldiers did not seal their devotion to 
their country with their blood. 

“In 1816, the seat of the State government was removed to Co- 


OUTLINE HISTORY. 


19 


lumbus, the proprietors of the town having, pursuant to an agree¬ 
ment entered into, in good faith, erected the State-house and other 
public buildings, for the accommodation of the legislature and the 
officers of state. 

“In January, 1817, the first resolution relating to a canal, connect¬ 
ing the Ohio river with Lake Erie, was introduced into the legisla¬ 
ture. In 1819, the subject was again agitated. In 1820, on the 
recommendation of Gov. Brown, an act was passed, providing for 
the appointment of three canal commissioners, who were to employ 
a competent engineer and assistants, for the purpose of surveying 
the route of the canal. The action of the commissioners, however, 
was made to depend on the acceptance by congress of a proposition 
on behalf of the State, for a donation and sale of the public lands, 
lying upon and near the route of the proposed canal. In conse¬ 
quence of this restriction, nothing was accomplished for two years. 
In 1822, the subject was referred to a committee of the house of 
representatives. This committee recommended the employment of 
an engineer, and submitted various estimates and observations to 
illustrate the importance and feasibility of the work. Under this 
act, James Geddes, of New York, an experienced and skillful engi¬ 
neer, was employed to make the necessary examinations and sur¬ 
veys. Finally, after all the routes had been surveyed, and estimates 
made of the expense had been laid before the legislature at several 
sessions, an act was passed in Feb., 1825, “ To provide for the inter¬ 
nal improvement of the State by navigable canals,” and thereupon 
the State embarked in good earnest in the prosecution of the great 
works of internal improvement.” 

The construction of these and other works of internal improve¬ 
ment, has been of immense advantage in developing the resources 
of Ohio, which, in little more than half a century, has changed from 
a wilderness to one of the most powerful States of the Union. 



COUNTIES 




ADAMS. 


Adams lies on the Ohio river, about fifty miles east of Cincinnati, 
and derives its name from John Adams, second President of the 
United States. It was formed, July 10th, 1797, by proclamation of 
Gov. St. Clair, and covered a large tract of country, being then one of 
the four counties into which the N. W. Territory was divided. The 
land is generally hilly and broken, and, in the eastern part, not fertile. 
The staples are wheat, corn, pork and oats. Many of the first set¬ 
tlers were from Virginia, Kentucky and Ireland. The following is 
a list of its townships in 1840, with their population: 


Franklin, 

Green, 

Jefferson, 

Liberty, 


1,358 

1,081 

938 

1,096 


Meigs, 

Monroe, 

Scott, 

Sprigg, 


1,071 

828 

916 

1,984 


Tiffin, 1,533 

Wayne, .858 

Winchester, 1,112 


The population of Adams, in 1820, was 10,406; in 1830, 12,278 ; 
and in 1840, 13,271, or 24 persons to a square mile. 

The first settlement within the Virginia military tract, and the 
only one between the Scioto and Little Miami until after the treaty 
of Greenville, in 1795, was made in this county, at Manchester, by 
the then Col., late Gen. Nathaniel Massie. McDonald, in his unpre¬ 
tending, but excellent little volume, says: 


Massie, in the winter of the year, 1790, determined to make a settlement in it, that he 
might be in the midst of his surveying operations and secure his party from danger and 
exposure. In order to effect this, he gave general notice in Kentucky of his intention, and 
offered each of the first twenty-five families, as a donation, one in-lot, one out-lot, and one 
hundred acres of land, provided they would settle in a town he intended to lay off at his 
settlement. His proffered terms were soon closed in with, and upwards of thirty families 
joined him. After various consultations with his friends, the bottom on the Ohio river, op¬ 
posite the lower of the Three Islands, was selected as the most eligible spot. Here, he 
fixed his station, and laid off into lots a town, now called Manchester; at this time a small 
place, about twelve miles above Maysville, (formerly Limestone,) Kentucky. This little 
confederacy, with Massie at the helm, (who was the soul of it,) went to work with spirit. 
Cabins were raised, and by the middle of March, 1791, the whole town was enclosed with 
strong pickets, firmly fixed in the ground, with block houses at each angle for defence. 

Thus was the first settlement in the Virginia military district, and the fourth settlement 
in the bounds of the State of Ohio, effected. Although this settlement was commenced in 
the hottest Indian war, it suffered less from depredation, and even interruptions, from the 
Indians, than any settlement previously made on the Ohio river. This was no doubt owing 
to the watchful band of brave spirits who guarded the place—men who were reared in the 
midst of danger and inured to perils, and as watchful as hawks. Here were the Beasleys, 



22 


ADAMS COUNTY. 


the Stouts, the Washburns, the Ledoms, the Edgingtons, the Denings, the Ellisons, the 
Utts, the McKenzies, the Wades, and others, who were equal to the Indians in all the arts 
and stratagems of border war. 

As soon as Massie had completely prepared his station for defence, the whole population 
went to work, and cleared the lower of the Three Islands, and planted it in corn. The 
island was very rich, and produced heavy crops. The woods, with a little industry, sup¬ 
plied a choice variety of game. Deer, elk, buffalo, bears, and turkeys, were abundant, 
while the river furnished a variety of excellent fish. The wants of the inhabitants, under 
these circumstances, were few and easily gratified. 

When this station was made, the nearest neighbors north-west of the Ohio, were the in¬ 
habitants at Columbia, a settlement below the mouth of the Little Miami, five miles above 
Cincinnati, and at Gallipolis, a French settlement, near the mouth of the Great Kenhawa. 

The station being established, Massie continued to make locations 
and surveys. Great precautions were necessary to avoid the Indians, 
and even these did not always avail, as is shown by the following 
incidents, the first of which is derived from the narrative of Israel 
Donalson, in the American Pioneer, and the others from McDonald’s 
sketches. 

I am not sure whether it was the last of March or first of April I came to the territory to 
reside ; but on the night of the 21st of April, 1791, Mr. Massie and myself were sleeping 
together on our blankets, (for beds we had none,) on the loft of our cabin, to get out of the 
way of the flees and knats. Soon after lying down, I began dreaming of Indians, and con¬ 
tinued to do so through the night. Sometime in the night, however, whether Mr. Massie 
waked of himself, or whether I wakened him, I cannot now say, but I observed to him I 
did not know what was to be the consequence, for I had dreamed more about Indians that 
night than in all the time I had been in the western country before. As is common, he 
made light of it, and we dropped again to sleep. He asked me next morning if I would 
go with him up the river, about four or five miles, to make a survey, and that William 
Lytle, who was then at the fort, was going along. We were both young surveyors, and 
were glad of the opportunity to practice. Accordingly we three, and a James Tittle, from 
Kentucky, who was about buying the land, got on board of a canoe, and was a long time 
going up, the river being very high at the time. We commenced at the mouth of a creek, 
which from that day has been called Donalson creek. We meandered up the river; Mr. 
Massie had the compass, Mr. Lytle and myself carried the chain. We had progressed per¬ 
haps one hundred and forty, or one hundred and fifty poles, when our chain broke or parted, 
but with the aid of the tomahawk we soon repaired it. We were then close to a large 
mound, and were standing in a triangle, and Lytle and myself were amusing ourselves 
pointing out to Tittle the great convenience he would have by building his house on that 
mound, when the one standing with his face up the river, spoke and said, boys, there are 
Indians; no, replied the other, they are Frenchmen. By this time I had caught a g lim pse 
of them ; I said they were Indians, I begged them to fire. I had no gun, and from the ad¬ 
vantage we had, did not think of running until they started. The Indians were in two 
small bark canoes, and were close into shore and discovered us just at the instant we saw 
them; and before I started to run I saw one jump on shore. We took out through the 
bottom, and before getting to the hill, came to a spring branch. I was in the rear, and as 
I went to jump, something caught my foot, and I fell on the opposite side. They were 
then so close, I saw there was no chance of escape, and did not offer to rise. Three war¬ 
riors first came up, presented their guns all ready to fire, but as I made no resistance they 
took them down, and one of them gave me his hand to help me up. At this time Mr. 
Lytle was about a chain’s length before me, and threw away his hat; one of the Indians 
went forward and picked it up. They then took me back to the bank of the river, and set 
me down while they put up their stuff, and prepared for a march. While setting on the 
bank of the river, I could see the men walking about the block-house on the Kentucky 
shore, but they heard nothing of it. They went on rapidly that evening, and camped, I 
think, on the waters of Eagle creek, started next morning early, it raining hard, and one 
of them saw my hat was somewhat convenient to keep off the rain, came up and took it 
off my head, and put it on his own. By this time I had discovered some friendship in a 
very lusty Indian, I think the one that first came up to me ; I made signs to him that one 
had taken my hat, he went and took it off the other Indian’s head, and placed it again on 
mine, but had not gone far before they took it again. I complained as before, but my 
friend shook his head, took down and opened his budget, and took out a sort of blanket 


ADAMS COUNTY. 


23 


cap, and put it on my head. We went on ; it still rained hard, and the waters were very 
much swollen, and when my friend discovered that I was timorous, he would lock his arm 
in mine, and lead me through, and frequently in open woods when I would get tired, I 
would do the same thing with him, and walk for miles. They did not make me carry any 
thing until Sunday or Monday. They got into a thicket of game, and killed, I think, two 
bears and some deer; they then halted and jerked their meat, eat a large portion, peeled 
some bark, made a kind of box, filled it, and put it on me to carry. I soon got tired of it 
and threw it down: they raised a great laugh, examined my back, applied some bear’s oil 
to it, and then put on the box again. I went on some distance and threw it down ag^in ; 
my friend then took it up, threw it over his head, and carried it. It weighed, I thought, at 
least fifty pounds. 

While resting one day, one of the Indians broke up little sticks and laid them up in the 
form of a fence, then took out a grain of com, as carefully wrapped up as people used to 
wrap up guineas in olden times; this they planted and called out squaw, signifying to me 
that that would be my employment with the squaws. But, notwithstanding my situation 
at the time, I thought they would not eat much corn of my raising. On Tuesday, as we 
were traveling along, there came to us a white man and an Indian on horseback ; they had 
a long talk, and when they rode off, the Indians I was with seemed considerably alarmed ; 
they immediately formed in Indian file, placed me in the centre, and shook a war club 
over my head, and showed me by these gestures that if I attempted to run away they would 
kill me. We soon after arrived at the Shawanee camp, where we continued until late in 
the afternoon of the next day. During our stay there they trained my hair to their own 
fashion, put a jewel of tin in my nose, &c., &c. The Indians met with great formality 
when we came to the camp, which was very spacious. One side was entirely cleared out 
for our use, and the party I was with passed the camp to my great mortification, I thinking 
they were going on ; but on getting to the further end they wheeled short round, came into 
the camp, sat down—not a whisper. In a few minutes two of the oldest got up, went 
round, shook hands, came and sat down again ; then the Shawanees rising simultaneously, 
came and shook hands with them. A few of the first took me by the hand ; but one re¬ 
fused, and I did not offer them my hand again, not considering it any great honor. Soon 
after a kettle of bear’s oil and some craclins were set before us, and we began eating, they 
first chewing the meat, then dipping it into the bear’s oil, which I tried to be excused from, 
but they compelled me to it, which tried my stomach, although by this time hunger had 
compelled me to eat many a dirty morsel. Early in the afternoon, an Indian came to the 
camp, and was met by his party just outside, when they formed a circle and he spoke, I 
thought, near an hour, and so profound was the silence, that had they been on a board floor, 
I thought the fall of a pin might have been heard. . I rightly judged of the disaster, for the 
day before I was taken I was at Limestone, and was solicited to join a party that was 
going down to the mouth of Snag creek, where some Indian canoes were discovered hid in 
the willows. The party went and divided, some came over to the Indian shore, and some 
remained in Kentucky, and they succeeded in killing nearly the whole party. 

There was at this camp two white men ; one of them could swear in English, but very 
imperfectly, having I suppose been taken young ; the other, who could speak good English, 
told me he was from South Carolina. He then told me different names which I have for¬ 
got, except that of Ward ; asked if I knew the Wards that lived near Washington, Ken¬ 
tucky. I told him I did, and wanted him to leave the Indians and go to his brother’s, and 
take me with him. He told me he preferred staying with the Indians, that he might nab 
the whites. He and I had a great deal of chat, and disagreed in almost every thing. He 
told me they had taken a prisoner by the name of Towns, that had lived near Washington, 
Kentucky, and that he had attempted to run away, and they killed him. But the truth 
was, they had taken Timothy Downing the day before I was taken, in the neighborhood of 
Blue Licks, and had got within four or five miles of that camp, and night coming on, and 
it being very rainy, they concluded to camp. There were but two Indians, an old chief 
and his son ; Downing watched his opportunity, got hold of a squaw-axe and gave the fatal 
blow. His object was to bring the young Indian in a prisoner; he said he had been so 
kind to him he could not think of killing him. But the instant he struck his father, the 
young man sprung upon his back and confined him so that it was with difficulty he extri¬ 
cated himself from his grasp. Downing made then for his horse, and the Indian for the 
camp. The horse he caught and mounted ; but not being a woodsman, struck the Ohio a 
little below Scioto, just as a boat was passing. They would not land for him until he rode 
several miles and convinced them that he was no decoy, and so close was the pursuit, that 
the boat had only gained the stream when the enemy appeared on the shore. He had se¬ 
verely wounded the young Indian in the scuffle, but did not know it until I told him. But 


24 


ADAMS COUNTY. 


to return to my own narrative: two of the party, viz., my friend and another Indian, turned 
back from this camp to do other mischief, and never before had I parted with a friend with 
the same regret. We left the Shawanee camp about the middle of the afternoon, they 
under great excitement. What detained them I know not, for they had a number of their 
horses up, and their packs on, from early in the morning. I think they had at least one 
hundred of the best horses that at that time Kentucky could afford. They calculated on 
being pursued, and they were right, for the next day, viz., the 28th of April, Major Kenton, 
with about ninety men, were at the camp before the fires w r ere extinguished ; and I have 
always viewed it as a providential circumstance that the enemy had departed, as a defeat 
on the part of the Kentuckians would have been inevitable. I never could get the Indians 
in a position to ascertain their precise number, but concluded there were sixty or upward, 
as sprightly looking men as I ever saw together, and well equipped as they could wish for. 
The Major himself agreed with me that it was a happy circumstance that they were gone. 

We traveled that evening, I thought, seven miles, and encamped in the edge of a prairie, 
the water a short distance off. Our supper that night consisted of a raccoon roasted un¬ 
dressed. After this meal I became thirsty, and an old warrior, to whom my friend had 
given me in charge, directed another to go with me to the water, which made him angry ; 
he struck me, and my nose bled. I had a great mind to return the stroke, but did not. I 
then determined, be the result what it might, that I w r ould go no farther with them. They 
tied me and laid me down as usual, one of them lying on the rope on each side of me ; 
they went to sleep, and I to work gnawing and picking the rope (made of bark) to pieces, 
but did not get loose until day was breaking. I crawled off on my hands and feet until I 
got into the edge of the prairie, and sat down on a trussuck to put on my moccasins, and 
had put on one and was preparing to put on the other, when they raised the yell and took 
the back track, and I believe they made as much noise as twenty white men could do. 
Had they been still they might have heard me, as I was not more than two chains’ length 
from them at the time. But I started and ran, carrying one moccasin in my hand ; and in 
order to evade them, chose the poorest ridges I could find ; and when coming to tree-logs 
lying crosswise, would run along one and then along the other. I continued on that way 
until about ten o’clock, then ascending a very poor ridge, crept in between two logs, and 
being very weary soon dropped to sleep, and did not waken until the sun was almost down ; 
I traveled on a short distance further and took lodging for the night in a hollow tree. I 
think it was on Saturday that I got to the Miami. I collected some logs, made a raft by 
peeling bark and tying them together; but I soon found that too tedious and abandoned it. 
I found a turkey’s nest with two eggs in it, each one having a double yelk ; they made two 
delicious meals for different days. I followed down the Miami, until I struck Harmar’s 
trace, made the previous fall, and continued on it until I came to Fort Washington, now 
Cincinnati. I think it was on Sabbath, the first day of May ; I caught a horse, tied a 
piece of bark around his under jaw, on which there was a large tumor like a wart. The 
bark rubbed that, and he became restless and threw me, not hurting me much, however ; I 
caught him again, and he again threw me, hurting me badly. How long I lay insensible 
I don’t know ; but when I revived he was a considerable distance from me. I then travel¬ 
ed on very slow, my feet entirely bare and full of thorns and briars. On Wednesday, the 
day that I got in, I was so far gone that I thought it entirely useless to make any further 
exertion, not knowing what distance I was from the river; and I took my station at the 
root of a tree, but soon got into a state of sleeping, and either dreamt, or thought that I 
should not be loitering away my time, that I should get in that day; which, on reflection, 
I had not the most distant idea. However, the impression was so strong that I got up and* 
walked on some distance. I then took my station again as before, and the same thoughts 
occupied my mind. I got up and walked on. I had not traveled far before I thought I 
could see an opening for the river; and getting a little further on, I heard the sound^of a 
bell. I then started and ran, (at a slow speed undoubtedly ;) a little further on, I began to 
perceive that I was coming to the river hill; and having got about half way down, I°heard 
the sound of an axe, which was the sweetest music I had heard for many a day/ It was 
in the extreme out-lot; when I got to the lot I crawled over the fence with difficulty, it 
being very high. I approached the person very cautiously till within about a chain’s length, 
undiscovered, I then stopped and spoke ; the person I spoke to was Mr. William Wood¬ 
ward, (the founder of the Woodward High School.) Mr. Woodward looked up, hastily 
cast his eyes round, and saw that I had no.deadly weapon 5 he then spoke. “ In the name 
of God,” said he, “ who are you V> I told him I had been a prisoner and had made my 
escape from the Indians. After a few more questions he told me to come to him. I did 
so. Seeing my situation, his fears soon subsided ; he told me to sit down on a log and he 
would go and catch a horse he had in the lot, and take me in. He caught his horse, set 


-ADAMS COUNTY. 


25 


me on him, but kept the bridle in his own hand. When we got into the road, people be¬ 
gan to inquire of Mr. Woodward, “who is he—an Indian?” I was not surprised nor 
offended at the inquiries, for I was still in Indian uniform, bare headed, my hair cut off 
close, except the scalp and foretop, which they had put up in a piece of tin, with a bunch 
of turkey feathers, which I could not undo. They had also stripped off the feathers of 
about two turkeys and hung them to the hair of the scalp; these I had taken off the day I 
left them. Mr. Woodward took me to his house, where every kindness was shown me. 
They soon gave me other clothing ; coming from different persons, they did not fit me very 
neatly ; but there could not be a pair of shoes got in the place that I could get on, my feet 
were so much swollen. 

In the spring of the year 1793, the settlers at Manchester commenced clearing the out-lots 
of the town; and while so engaged, an incident of much interest and excitement occurred. 
Mr. Andrew Ellison, one of the settlers, cleared a lot immediately adjoining the fort. He 
had completed the cutting of the timber, rolled the logs together and set them on fire. The 
next morning, a short tijne before daybreak, Mr. Ellison opened one of the gates of the fort, 
and went out to throw his logs together. By the time he had finished this job, a number 
of the heaps blazed up brightly, and as he was passing from one to the other, he observed, 
by the light of the fires, three men walking briskly towards him. This did not alarm him 
in the least, although, he said, they were dark skinned fellows ; yet he concluded they were 
the Wades, whose complexions were very dark, going early to hunt. He continued to 
right his log-heaps, until one of the fellows seized him by the arms, and called out in broken 
English, “ How do ? how do ?” He instantly looked in their faces, and to his surprise and 
horror, found himself in the clutches of three Indians. To resist was useless. He there¬ 
fore submitted to his fate, without any resistance or an attempt to escape. 

The Indians quickly moved off with him in the direction of Paint creek. When break¬ 
fast was ready, Mrs. Ellison sent one of her children to ask their father home ; but he could 
not be found at the log-heaps. His absence created no immediate alarm, as it was thought 
he might have started to hunt after the completion of his work. Dinner time arrived, and 
Ellison not returning, the family became uneasy, and began to suspect some accident had 
happened to him. His gun-rack was examined, and there hung his rifle and his pouch in 
their usual place. Massie raised a party, and made a circuit around the place, and found, 
after some search, the trails of four men, one of whom had on shoes; and as Ellison had 
shoes on, the truth, that the Indians had made him a prisoner, was unfolded. As it was 
almost night at the time the trail was discovered, the party returned to their station. 
Next morning, early preparations were made by Massie and his party to pursue the Indians. 
In doing this they found great difficulty, as it was so early in the spring that the vegetation 
was not of sufficient growth to show plainly the trail of the Indians, who took the precau¬ 
tion to keep on hard and high land, where their feet could make little or no impression. 
Massie and his party, however, were as unerring as a pack of well-trained hounds, and fol¬ 
lowed the trail to Paint creek, when they found the Indians gained so fast on them, that 
pursuit was vain. They therefore abandoned it, and returned to the station. 

The Indians took their prisoner to Upper Sandusky, and compelled him to run the gaunt¬ 
let. As Ellison was a large man and not very active, he received a severe flogging as he 
passed along the line. From this place he was taken to Lower Sandusky, and was again 
compelled to run the gauntlet, and was then taken to Detroit, where he was generously 
ransomed by a British officer for one hundred dollars. He was shortly afterwards sent by 
his friend, the officer, to Montreal, from whence he returned home before the close of the 
summer of the same year. 

Another incident connected with the station at Manchester occurred shortly after this 
time, which, although somewhat out of order as to time, I will take the liberty to relate in 
this place. John Edgington, Asahel Edgington, and another man, started out on a hunt¬ 
ing expedition towards Brush creek. They camped out six miles in a north-east direction 
from where West Union now stands, and near where Treber’s tavern is now situated, on 
the road from Chillicothe to Maysville. The Edgingtons had good success in hunting, 
having killed a number of deer and bears. Of the deer killed, they saved the skins and 
hams alone. The bears, they fleeced; that is, they cut off all the meat which adhered to 
the hide without skinning, and left the bones as a skeleton. They hung up the proceeds of 
their hunt on a scaffold, out of the reach of the wolves and other wild animals, and return¬ 
ed home for pack horses. No one returned to the camp with the two Edgingtons. As it 
was late in December, no one apprehended danger, as the winter season was usually a time 
of repose from Indian incursions. When the Edgingtons arrived at their old hunting 
camp, they alighted from their horses and were preparing to strike a fire, when a platoon 
of Indians fired upon them, at the distance of not more than twenty paces. Asahel Edg- 

4 


26 


ADAMS COUNTY. 


ington fell to rise no more. John was more fortunate. The sharp crack of the rifles, and 
the horrid yells of the Indians, as they leaped from their place of ambush, frightened the 
horses, who took the track towards home at full speed. John Edgington was very active 
on foot, and now an occasion offered which required his utmost speed. The moment the 
Indians leaped from their hiding place, they threw down their guns and took after him. 
They pursued him screaming and yelling in the most horrid manner. Edgington did not 
run a booty race. For about a mile the Indians stepped in his tracks almost before the 
bending grass could rise. The uplifted tomahawk was frequently so near his head, that he 
thought he felt its edge. Every effort was made to save his life, and every exertion of the 
Indians was made to arrest him in his flight. Edgington, who had the greatest stake in 
the race, at length began to gain on his pursuers, and after a long race, he distanced them, 
made his escape, and safely reached home. This, truly, was a most fearful and well con¬ 
tested race. The big Shawnee chief, Captain John, who headed the Indians on this occa¬ 
sion, after peace was made and Chillicothe settled, frequently told the writer of this sketch 
of the race. Captain John said, that “ the white man who ran away was a smart fellow, 
that the white man run and I run, he run and run, at last, the white man run clear off 
from me.” 

The first court in this county was held in Manchester. Winthrop 
Sargent, the secretary of the territory, acting in the absence of 
the governor, appointed commissioners, who located the county 
seat at an out of the way place, a few miles above the mouth of 
Brush creek, which they called Adamsville. The locality was soon 
named, in derision, Scant. At the next session of the court, its 
members became divided, and part sat in Manchester and part at 
Adamsville. The governor, on his return to the territory, finding 
the people in great confusion, and much bickering between them, 
removed the seat of justice to the mouth of Brush creek, where the 
first court was held in 1798. Here a town was laid out by Noble 
Grimes, under the name of Washington. A large log court house 
was built, with a jail in the lower story, and the governor appointed 
two more of the Scant party judges, which gave them a majority. 
In 1800, Charles Willing Byrd, secretary of the territory, in the 
absence of the governor, appointed two more of the Manchester 
party judges, which balanced the parties, and the contest was main¬ 
tained until West Union became the county seat. Joseph Darlin- 
ton # and Israel Donalson, were among the first judges of the Com¬ 
mon Pleas. These gentlemen, now living in this county, were also 
members of the convention for forming the constitution of the State, 
there being, in 1847, only three others of that body living. 

West Union, the county seat, is on the Maysville and Zanesville 
turnpike, 8 miles from the Ohio at Manchester, and 106 southerly 
from Columbus. The name was given to it by Hon. Thomas Kirker, 
one of the commissioners who laid it out in 1804, and one of its 
earliest settlers. It stands on the summit of a high ridge, many 
hundred feet above the level of the Ohio. As early as 1815, a 
newspaper was established here by James Finlay, entitled the Polit¬ 
ical Censor. The annexed view shows, on the left, the jail and 
market, and in the centre, the court house and county offices. 
These last stand in a pleasant area, shaded by locusts. The court 
house is a substantial stone building, and bears good testimony to the 

♦In 1803, Gen. Darlinton was appointed Clerk of Common Pleas and Clerk of the Su¬ 
preme Court. The first office he left a few months since, and the last he still retains. 




ADAMS COUNTY. 


27 


skill of its builder, ex-Governor Metcalf, of Kentucky, who, com¬ 
mencing life as a mason, has acquired the sobriquet of “Stone. 
Hammer.” The first court house here was of logs. West Union 
contains 4 churches : 1 Associate Reformed, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Meth¬ 
odist and 1 Baptist; 2 newspapers, a classical school, and 9 mercan¬ 
tile stores. It had, in 1820, a population of 406 ; in 1840, 452. 



Public Buildings, West Union. 


In the eastern part of this county are considerable beds of iron 
ore, that have been in use many years ; it is a mineral region, and 
large hills are composed of aluminous slate. Some years since, a 
singular phenomenon occurred in this section, described by Dr. 
Hildreth, in the 29th volume of Silliman’s Journal: 

A part of the summer of the year 1830 was excessively dry in the south-west portion o 
Ohio. During the drought, the water all disappeared from Brush creek, which heads 
among some slaty hills, leaving its bed entirely dry for several weeks. Towards the close 
of this period, loud and frequent explosions took place from the slate at the bottom of the 
creek, throwing up large fragments of rock and shaking the earth violently for some dis¬ 
tance. The inhabitants living near its borders became much alarmed, thinking a volcano 
was breaking out. On examining the spot, large pieces of iron pyrites were found mixed 
with the slate-stone. The water, which had heretofore protected the pyrites from the at¬ 
mosphere, being all evaporated, the oxygen found its way through the crevices of the slate 
to these beds, and acting chemically upon them, new combinations took place, forcing up 
the superincumbent strata with great violence and noise. When the water again covered 
the bed of the creek, the explosions ceased. 

The barren hills in this part of the county, and of some of the 
other river counties, remain, in many cases, the property of the 
General Government. They afford, however, a fine range for the 
cattle and hogs of the scattered inhabitants, and no small quantity 
of lumber, such as staves, hoop poles and tanner’s bark, which are 
unscrupulously taken from the public lands. Dr. John Locke, from 
whose Geological Report these facts are derived, says : 

Indeed, there is a vagrant class who are supported by this kind of business. They erect 
a cabin towards the head of some ravine, collect the chestnut-oak bark from the neighbor¬ 
ing hill tops, drag it on sleds to points accessible by wagons, where they sell it for perhaps 
$2 per cord to the wagoner. The last sells it at the river to the flat boat shipper, at $6 
per cord, and he again to the consumer at Cincinnati, for $11. Besides this common tres¬ 
pass, the squatter helps himself out by hunting deer and coons, and, it is said, occasionally 







































































































28 


ALLEN COUNTY. 


by taking a sheep or a hog, the loss of which may very reasonably be charged to the wolves. 
The poor families of the hark cutters often exhibit the very picture of improvidence. There 
begins to be a fear among the inhabitants that speculators may be tempted to purchase up 
these waste lands and deprive them of their present ‘ range’ and lumber. The speculator 
must still be a non-resident, and could hardly protect his purchase. The inhabitants have 
a hard, rough region to deal with, and need all of the advantages which their mountain 
tract can afford. 

Winchester, 12 miles nw. of the county seat, is a thriving 
town, with 7 stores and about 400 people; Manchester, 8 sw., has 
4 stores and about 250 population; Jacksonville, 10 ne., has a 
population of about 200; Locust Grove, Rockville, Bentonville, 
Cherry Fork, Eckmansville and Rome, are small towns having post 
offices. 


ALLEN. 

Allen was formed April 1st, 1820, from Indian territory, and 
named in honor of a colonel of that name in the war of 1812 : it was 
temporarily attached to Mercer county for judicial purposes. The 
surface is generally level; the soil varies from a sandy loam to clay, 
and is well adapted to grain and grass. The principal crops are 
wheat, corn, rye and oats, with timothy, clover and flaxseed. The 
county is well settled for a new one, which arises from the U. S., 
and State land offices having formerly been within it, and the land, 
therefore, was taken by actual settlers. The population is of a 
mixed character, and the southern part has many Germans. The 


following is a list of its townships in 

1840, with their population: 

Amanda, 

282 

Goshen, 

236 

Shawanee, 

429 

Auglaise, 

732 

Jackson, 

570 

Union, 

669 

Bath, 

1,382 

Marion, 

315 

Washington, 

457 

Clay, 

435 

Moulton, 

263 

Wayne, 

404 

Duchaquet, 

692 

Perry, 

565 



German, 

856 

Pusheta, 

768 




The population of Allen, in 1840, was 9,081, or 16 inhabitants to 
a square mile. 

Lima, the county seat, is 95 miles wnw. from Columbus, and 
was laid off as the seat of justice for the county in the spring of 
1831. It is several miles north of the centre of the county, the 
southern portion of which has been an Indian reservation. The 
annexed view was taken near the residence of Col. Jas. Cunning¬ 
ham, on the Wapakonetta road. The stream shown in the view 
is the Ottawa river, usually called Hog river—a* name derived 
from the following circumstance: McKee, the British Indian agent, 
who resided at the Machachac towns, on Mad river, during the 
incursion of General Logan, in 1786, was obliged to flee with his 
effects. He had his swine driven on to the borders of this stream ; 
the Indians thereafter called it Koshko sepe, which, in the Shawnee 
language, signifies Hog river. Lima contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 



ALLEN COUNTY. 


29 


Methodist, and 1 Baptist church ; 6 dry goods and 4 grocery stores, 
a foundery, 2 newspaper printing offices, and a population estimated 
at about 500. The town is progressing with the gradual increase 
oi the country. 



Lima. 


Wapakonetta is 10 miles from St. Mary’s, and 12 from Lima, on 
the Auglaize, and contains 1 Catholic and 1 Methodist church and 
3 stores; it is settled principally by Germans, and in population is 
somewhat less than Lima. After the Shawnees were driven from 
Piqua by Gen. Clark, they settled a town here, which they called 
Wapaghkonetta* By the treaty at the Maumee rapids, in 1817, 
the Shawnees were given a reservation of ten miles square in this 
county, within which was their council house at Wapakonetta, and 
also a tract of twenty-five square miles, which included their set¬ 
tlement on Hog Creek; by the treaty of the succeeding year, made 
at St. Mary’s, 12,800 acres adjoining the east line of the Wapakonetta 
Reserve were added. 

At the village there is a fine orchard, at least sixty years of age, 
and from its being planted in regular order, it is supposed to have 
been done by Frenchmen settled among the Indians. The society 
of Friends, for a number of years, had a mission at Wapakonetta. 

From the year 1796 till the formation of the state constitution, 
Judge Burnet, of Cincinnati, attended court regularly at that place, 
Marietta and Detroit, the last of which was then the seat of justice 
for Wayne county. The jaunts between these remote places, through 
a wilderness, were attended with exposure, fatigue and hazard, and 
were usually performed on horseback, in parties of two or three or 


* John Johnston says “ Wapagh-ko-netta: this is the true Indian orthography. It was 
named after an Indian chief long since dead, but who survived years after my intercourse 
commenced with the Shawanoese. The chief was somewhat club-footed, and the word 
has reference, I think, to that circumstance, although its full import I never could discover. 
For many years prior to 1829,1 had my Indian head quarters at Wapagh-ko-netta. The 
business of the agency of the Shawanoese, Wyandotts, Senecas and Delawares, was trans¬ 
acted there.” 














30 


ALLEN COUNTY. 


more. On one of these occasions, while halting at Wapakonetta, he 
witnessed a game of ball among the people, of which he has given 
an interesting narration in his letters. 

Blue Jacket, the war chief, who commanded the Shawanees in the battle of 1794, at 
Maumee, resided in the village, but was absent. We were, however, received with kind¬ 
ness, by the old village chief, Buckingelas. When we w’ent to his lodge, he was giving 
audience to a deputation of chiefs from some western tribes. We took seats at his re¬ 
quest, till the conference was finished, and the strings of wampum disposed of—he gave us 
no intimation of the subject matter of the conference, and, of course, we could not ask for 
it. In a little time he called in some of his young men, and requested them to get up a 
game of football for our amusement. A purse of trinkets was soon made up, and the whole 
village, male and female, were on the lawn. At these games the men played against the 
women, and it was a rule, that the former were not to touch the ball with their hands on 
penalty of forfeiting the purse; while the latter had the privilege of picking it up, running 
with, and throwing it as far as they could. When a squaw had the ball, the men were 
allowed to catch and shake her, and even throw her on the ground, if necessary, to extri¬ 
cate the ball from her hand, but they were not allowed to touch, or move it, except by their 
feet. At the opposite extremes of the lawn, which was a beautiful plain, thickly set with 
blue grass, stakes were erected, about six feet apart—the contending parties arrayed them¬ 
selves in front of these stakes; the men on the one side, and the women on the other. 
The party which succeeded in driving the ball through the stakes, at the goal of their op¬ 
ponents, were proclaimed victors, and received the purse. All things being ready, the old 
chief went to the centre of the lawn, and threw up the ball, making an exclamation, in the 
Shawanee language, which we did not understand. He immediately retired, and the con¬ 
test began. The parties seemed to be fairly matched, as to numbers, having about a hun¬ 
dred on a side. The game lasted more than an hour, with great animation, but was 
finally decided in favor of the ladies, by the power of an herculean squaw, who got the ball, 
and in spite of the men who seized her to shake it from her uplifted hand, held it firmly, 
dragging them along, till she was sufficiently near the goal to throw it through the stakes. 
The young squaws were the most active of their party, and, of course, most frequently 
caught the ball. When they did so, it was amusing to see the strife between them and the 
young Indians, who immediately seized them, and always succeeded in rescuing the ball, 
though sometimes they could not effect their object till their female competitors were thrown 
on the grass. When the contending parties had retired from the field of strife, it was 
pleasant to see the feelings of exultation depicted in the faces of the victors ; whose joy 
was manifestly enhanced by the fact, that their victory was won in the presence of white 
men, whom they supposed to be highly distinguished, and of great power in their nation. 
This was a natural conclusion for them to draw, as they knew we were journeying to 
Detroit for the purpose of holding the general court; which, they supposed, controled and 
governed the nation. We spent the night very pleasantly among them, and in the morning 
resumed our journey. 

In August, 1831, treaties were negotiated with the Senecas of 
Lewiston and the Shawnees of Wapakonetta, by James Gardiner, 
Esq., and Col. John M’Elvain, special commissioners appointed for 
this purpose. The terms offered were so liberal that the Indians 
consented to give up their land and remove beyond the Mississippi. 
The Shawnees had at this time about 66,000 acres in this county, 
and in conjunction with the Senecas about 40,300 acres at Lewiston. 
The Indians were removed to the Indian territory on Kanzas river, 
in the Far West, in September, 1832, D. M. Workman and David 
Robb being the agents for their removal. The latter, Mr. Robb, in 
a communication respecting the Indians, has given the following 
interesting facts. 

Intemperance to a great extent prevailed among the Indians; there was, however, as 
wide a contrast in this respect as with the whites, and some of the more virtuous refused 
to associate with the others. This class also cultivated their little farms with a degree of 
taste and judgment: some of these could cook a comfortable meal, and I have eaten both 


ALLEN COUNTY. 


31 


butter and a kind of cheese made by them. Many of them were quite ingenious and na¬ 
tural mechanics, with a considerable knowledge of, and an inclination to use tools. One 
chief had an assortment of carpenters’ tools which he kept in neat order. He made plows, 
harrows, wagons, bedsteads, tables, bureaus, &c. He was frank, liberal and conscientious. 
On my asking him who taught him the use of tools, he replied, no one ; then pointing up 
to the sky, he said, “ the Great Spirit taught me.” 

With all their foibles and vices, there is something fascinating in the Indian character, 
and one cannot long associate with them without having a perceptible growing attachment. 
The Indian is emphatically the natural man, and it is an easy thing to make an Indian out 
of a white person, but very difficult to civilize or christianize an Indian. I have known a 
number of whites who had been taken prisoners by the Indians when young, and without 
exception, they formed such attachments that, after being with them some time, they could 
not be induced to return to their own people. There was a woman among the Shawnees, 
supposed to be near an hundred years of age, who was taken prisoner, when young, in 
eastern Pennsylvania. Some years after, her friends, through the agency of traders, en¬ 
deavored to induce her to return, but in vain. She became, if possible, more of a squaw in 
her habits and appearance than any female in the nation. 

As a sample of their punctuality in performing their contracts, I would state that I have 
often loaned them money, which was always returned in due season, with a single excep¬ 
tion. This was a loan to a young man who promised to pay me when they received their 
annuity. After the appointed time he shunned me, and the matter remained unsettled 
until just prior to our departure for their new homes. I then stated the circumstance to one 
of the chiefs, more from curiosity to see how he would receive the intelligence than with 
the expectation of its being the means of bringing the money. He, thereupon, talked with 
the lad upon the subject, but, being unsuccessful, he called a council of his brother chiefs, 
who formed a circle, with the young man in the centre. After talking to him a while in 
a low tone, they broke out and vociferously reprimanded him for his dishonest conduct; 
but all proved unavailing. Finally, the chiefs, in a most generous and noble spirit, made 
up the amount from their own purses, and pleasantly tendered it to me. 

The Indians being firm believers in witchcraft, generally attributed sickness and other 
misfortunes to this cause, and were in the habit of murdering those whom they suspected 
of practising it. They have been known to travel all the way from the Mississippi to 
Wapakonetta, and shoot down a person in his cabin merely on suspicion of his being a 
wizzard, and return unmolested. When a person became so sick as to lead them to think 
he was in danger of death, it was usual for them to place him in the woods alone, with no 
one to attend except a nurse or doctor, who generally acted as an agent in hurrying on 
their dissolution. It was distressing to see one in this situation. I have been permitted to 
do this only through the courtesy of relatives, it being contrary to rule for any to visit them 
except such as had medical care of them. The whole nation are at liberty to attend the 
funerals, at which there is generally great lamentation. A chief, who died just previous to 
their removal, was buried in the following manner. They bored holes in the lid of his 
coffin—as is their custom—over his eyes and mouth, to let the Good Spirit pass in and out. 
Over the grave they laid presents, &c., with provisions, which they affirmed the Good Spirit 
would take him in the night. Sure enough!—these articles had all disappeared in the 
morning, by the hand of an evil spirit clothed in a human body. There were many 
funerals among the Indians, and their numbers rapidly decreased : intemperance, and pul¬ 
monary, and scrofulous diseases, made up a large share of their bills of mortality, and the 
number of deaths to the births were as one to three. 

A few anecdotes will illustrate the wit and dishonesty of some, and the tragical encoun¬ 
ters of others of the Indians. Col. M'Pherson, the former sub-agent, kept goods for sale, 
for which they often got in debt. Some were slow in making payments, and one in parti¬ 
cular was so tardy that M'Pherson earnestly urged him to pay up. Knowing that he was 
in the habit of taking hides from the tanners, the Indian inquired if he would take hides for 
the debt. Being answered in the affirmative, he promised to bring them in about four days. 
The Indian, knowing that M'Pherson had at this time a flock of cattle ranging in the forest, 
went in pursuit, shot several, from which he took off the hides, and delivered them punctually 
according to promise. 

While we were encamped, waiting for the Indians to finish their ceremonies prior to 
emigration, we were much annoyed by an unprincipled band of whites who came to trade, 
particularly in the article of whiskey, which they secreted from us in the woods. The In¬ 
dians all knew of this depot, and were continually going, like bees from the hive, day and 
night, and it was difficult to tell whether some who lead in the worship passed most of the 
time in that employment or in drinking whiskey. While this state of things lasted, the 


32 


ALLEN COUNTY. 


officers could do nothing satisfactorily with them, nor were they sensible of the consequence 
of continuing in such a course The government was bound by treaty stipulations to 
maintain them one year only, which was passing away, and winter was fast approaching, 
when they could not well travel, and if they could not arrive until spring, they would be 
unable to raise a crop, and consequently would be out of bread. We finally assembled the 
chiefs and other influential men, and presenting these facts vividly before them, they became 
alarmed and promised to reform. We then authorized them to tomahawk every barrel, 
keg, jug, or bottle of whiskey that they could find, under the promise to pay for all and 
protect them from harm in so doing. They all agreed to this, and went to work that night 
to accomplish the task. Having lain down at a late hour to sleep, I was awakened by one 
who said he had found and brought me a jug of whiskey: I handed him a quarter of a 
dollar, set the whiskey down, and fell asleep again. The same fellow then came, stole jug 
and all, and sold the contents that night to the Indians at a shilling a dram—a pretty good 
speculation on a half gallon of “ whisk,” as the Indians call it. I suspected him of the 
trick, but he would not confess it until I was about to part with them at the end of the 
journey, when he came to me and related the circumstances, saying that it was too good a 
story to keep. 

One of our interpreters, who was part Indian and had lived with them a long time, re¬ 
lated the following tragical occurrence. A company of Shawnees met some time previous 
to my coming among them, had a drunken frolic and quarrelled. One vicious fellow who 
had an old grudge against several of the others, and stabbed two of the company succes¬ 
sively until they fell dead, was making for the third, when his arm was arrested by a large 
athletic Indian, who, snatching the knife from him, plunged it into him until he fell. He 
attempted to rise and got on his knees, when the other straddled him, seized him by the 
hair, lifted up his head with one hand, while with the other he drew his knife across his 
throat, exclaiming—•“ lie there, my friend ! I guess you not eat any more hommony.” 

After we had rendezvoused, preparatory to moving, we were detained several weeks 
waiting until they had got over their tedious round of religious ceremonies, some of which 
were public and others kept private from us. One of their first acts was to take away the 
fencing from the graves of their fathers, level them to the surrounding surface, and cover 
them so neatly with green sod, that not a trace of the graves could be seen. Subsequently, 
a few of the chiefs and others visited their friends at a distance, gave and received presents 
from chiefs of other nations, at their head quarters. 

Among the ceremonies above alluded to was a dance, in which none participated but the 
warriors. They threw off all their clothing but their britchclouts, painted their faces and 
naked bodies in a fantastical manner, covering them with the pictures of snakes and disa¬ 
greeable insects and animals, and then armed with war clubs, commenced dancing, yelling 
and frightfully distorting their countenances: the scene was truly terrific. This was fol¬ 
lowed by the dance they usually have on returning from a victorious battle, in which both 
sexes participated. It was a pleasing contrast to the other, and was performed in the night, 
in a ring, around a large fire. In this they sang and marched, males and females promis¬ 
cuously, in single file, around the blaze. The leader of the band commenced singing, while 
all the rest were silent until he had sung a certain number of words, then the next in the 
row commenced with the same, and the leader began with a new set, and so on to the end 
of their chanting. All were singing at once, but no two the same words. I was told that 
part of the words they used were hallelujah! It was pleasing to witness the native 
modesty and graceful movements of those young females in this dance. 

When their ceremonies were over, they informed us they were now ready to leave. 
They then mounted their horses, and such as went in wagons seated themselves, and set 
out with their “ high priest” in front, bearing on his shoulders “ the ark of the covenant,” 
which consisted of a large gourd and the bones of a deer’s leg tied to its neck. Just pre¬ 
vious to starting, the priest gave a blast of his trumpet, then moved slowly and solemnly, 
while the others followed in like manner, until they were ordered to halt in the evening 
for encampment, when the priest gave another blast as a signal to stop, erect their tents', 
and cook supper. The same course was observed through the whole of the journey. 
When they arrived near St. Louis, they lost some of their number by cholera. The Shaw¬ 
nees who emigrated numbered about 700 souls, and the Senecas about 350. Among them 
was also a detachment of Ottawas, who were conducted by Capt. Hollister from the 
Maumee country. 

The principal speaker among the Shawnees at the period of their 
removal, was Wiwelipea. He was an eloquent orator—either grave 
or gay, humorous or severe, as the occasion required. At times 


ALLEN COUNTY. 


33 


his manner was so fascinating, his countenance so full of varied 
expression, and his voice so musical, that surveyors and other stran¬ 
gers passing through the country, listened to him with delight, al¬ 
though the words fell upon their ears in an unknown language. He 
removed out west with his tribe. The chief Catahecassa , or Black 
Hoof, died at Wapakonetta, shortly previous to their removal, at 
the age of 110 years. The sketches annexed of Black Hoof and 
Blue Jacket, are derived from Drake’s Tecumseh. 

Among the celebrated chiefs of the Shawanoes, Black Hoof is entitled to a high rank. 
He was born in Florida, and at the period of the removal of a portion of that tribe to Ohio 
and Pennsylvania, was old enough to recollect having bathed in the salt water. He was 
present, with others of his tribe, at the defeat of Braddock, near Pittsburg, in 1755, and was 
engaged in all the wars in Ohio from that time until the treaty of Greenville, in 1795. 
Such was the sagacity of Black Hoof in planning his military expeditions, and such the 
energy with which he executed them, that he won the confidence of his whole nation, and 
was never at a loss for braves to fight under his banner. “ He was known far and wide as 
the great Shawanoe warrior, whose cunning, sagacity, and experience, were only equalled 
by the fierce and desperate bravery with which he carried into operation his military plans. 
Like the other Shawanoe chiefs, he was the inveterate foe of the white man, and held that 
no peace should be made, nor any negociation attempted, except on the condition that the 
whites should repass the mountains, and leave the great plains of the west to the sole occu¬ 
pancy of the native tribes. 

“ He was the orator of his tribe during the greater part of his long life, and was an ex¬ 
cellent speaker. The venerable Colonel Johnston, of Piqua, to whom we are indebted for 
much valuable information, describes him as the most graceful Indian he had ever seen, 
and as possessing the most natural and happy faculty of expressing his ideas. He was well 
versed in the traditions of his people ; no one understood better their peculiar relations to 
the whites, whose settlements were gradually encroaching on them, or could detail with 
more minuteness the wrongs with which his nation was afflicted. But although a stem and 
uncompromising opposition to the whites had marked his policy through a series of forty 
years, and nerved his arm in a hundred battles, he became at length convinced of the mad¬ 
ness of an ineffectual struggle against a vastly superior and hourly increasing foe. No 
sooner had he satisfied himself of this truth, than he acted upon it with the decision which 
formed a prominent trait in his character. The temporary success of the Indians in several 
engagements previous to the campaign of General Wayne, had kept alive their expiring 
hopes ; but their signal defeat by that gallant officer convinced the more reflecting of their 
leaders of the desperate character of the conflict. Black Hoof was among those who de¬ 
cided upon making terms with the victorious American commander; and having signed 
the treaty of 1795, at Greenville, he continued faithful to his stipulations during the re¬ 
mainder of his life. From that day, he ceased to be the enemy of the white man ; and as 
he was not one who could act a negative part, he became the firm ally and friend of those 
against whom his tomahawk had been so long raised in vindictive animosity. He was 
their friend, not from sympathy or conviction, but in obedience to a necessity which left no 
middle course, and under a belief that submission alone could save his tribe from destruc¬ 
tion ; and having adopted this policy, his sagacity and sense of honor, alike forbade a 
recurrence either to open war or secret hostility. He was the principal chief of the Shawa¬ 
noe nation, and possessed all the influence and authority which are usually attached to that 
office, at the period when Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet commenced their hostile 
operations against the United States.” 

When Tecumseh and the Prophet embarked in their scheme for the recovery of the 
lands as far south as the Ohio river, it became their interest as well as policy to enlist Black 
Hoof in the enterprise ; and every effort which the genius of the one, and the cunning of 
the other, could devise, was brought to bear upon him. But Black Hoof continued faithful 
to the treaty which he had signed at Greenville, in 1795, and by prudence and influence 
kept the greater part of his tribe from joining the standard of Tecumseh or engaging on the 
side of *he British in the late war with England. In that contest he became the ally of the 
United States, and although he took no active part in it, he exerted a very salutary in¬ 
fluence over his tribe. In January, 1813, he visited Gen. Tupper’s camp, at Fort McArthur, 
and while there, about ten o’clock one night, when sitting by the fire in company with the 
General and several other officers, some one fired a pistol through a hole in the wall of the 

5 


34 


ALLEN COUNTY. 


hut, and shot Black Hoof in the face : the ball entered the cheek, glanced against the bone, 
and finally lodged in his neck: he fell, and for some time was supposed to be dead, but 
revived, and afterwards recovered from this severe wound. The most prompt and diligent 
inquiry as to the author of this cruel and dastardly act, failed to lead to his detection. No 
doubt was entertained that this attempt at assassination was made by a white man, stimu¬ 
lated perhaps by no better excuse than the memory of some actual or ideal wrong, inflicted 
on some of his own race by an unknown hand of kindred color with that of his intended 
victim. 

Black Hoof was opposed to polygamy, and to the practice of burning prisoners. He is 
reported to have lived forty years with one wife, and to have reared a numerous family of 
children, who both loved and esteemed him. His disposition w r as cheerful, and his conver¬ 
sation sprightly and agreeable. In stature he was small, being not more than five feet 
eight inches in height. He was favored with good health, and unimpaired eye sight to the 
period of his death. 

Blue Jacket, or Weyapiersenwaii. —In the campaign of General Harmar, in the year 
1790, Blue Jacket was associated with the Miami chief, Little Turtle, in the command of 
the Indians. In the battle of the 20th of August, 1794, when the combined army of the 
Indians was defeated by General Wayne, Blue Jacket had the chief control. The night 
previous to the battle, while the Indians were posted at Presque Isle, a council was held, 
composed of chiefs from the Miamis, Potawatimies, Delawares, Shawanoes, Chippewas, 
Ottawas and Senecas—the seven nations engaged in the action. They decided against 
the proposition to attack General Wayne that night in his encampment. The expediency 
of meeting him the next day then came up for consideration. Little Turtle was opposed 
to this measure, but being warmly supported by Blue Jacket, it was finally agreed upon. 
The former was strongly inclined to peace, and decidedly opposed to risking a battle under 
the circumstances in which the Indians were then placed. “ We have beaten the enemy,” 
said he, “ twice, under separate commanders. We cannot expect the same good fortune 
always to attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night 
and the day are alike to him ; and, during all the time that he has been marching upon our 
villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to 
surprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers me, it would be prudent to 
listen to his offers of peace.” The councils of Blue Jacket, however, prevailed over the 
better judgment of Little Turtle. The battle was fought and the Indians defeated. 

In the month of October following this defeat, Blue Jacket concurred in the expediency 
of sueing for peace, and at the head of a deputation of chiefs, was about to bear a flag to 
General Wayne, then at Greenville, when the mission was arrested by foreign influence. 
Governor Simcoe, Colonel McKee and the Mohawk chief, Captain John Brant, having in 
charge one hundred and fifty Mohawks and Messasagoes, arrived at the rapids of the 
Maumee, and invited the chiefs of the combined army to meet them at the mouth of the 
Detroit river, on the 10th of October. To this Blue Jacket assented, for the purpose of 
hearing what the British officers had to propose. Governor Simcoe urged the Indians to 
retain their hostile attitude towards the United States. In referring to the encroachments 
of the people of this country on the Indian lands, he said, “ Children: I am still of the 
opinion that the Ohio is your right and title. I have given orders to the commandant of 
Fort Miami to fire on the Americans whenever they make their appearance again. I will 
go down to Quebec, and lay your grievances before the great man. From thence they will 
be forwarded to the king your father. Next spring you will know the result of every thing 
what you and I will do.” He urged the Indians to obtain a cessation of hostilities, until 
the following spring, when the English would be ready to attack the Americans, and by 
driving them back across the Ohio, restore their lands to the Indians. These councils de¬ 
layed the conclusion of peace until the following summer. Blue Jacket was present at the 
treaty of Greenville, in 1795, and conducted himself with moderation and dignity. 

Westminster, Lafayette, Allentown, Gallatin, St. Johns and Uni- 
opolis are small places, the largest of which, Westminster, does not 
contain over 45 dwellings. Fort Amanda, a stockade in the last 
war, was on a commanding site on the west bank of the Big An- 
glaise, near the western line of the county, and on the site of an 
old Ottawa town. It was built by Kentucky troops, and named 
after some favorite lady of that state. 


ASHLAND COUNTY. 


85 


ASHLAND. 

Ashland was formed February 26th, 1846. The surface on the 
south is hilly, the remainder of the county rolling. The soil of the 
upland is a sandy loam; of the valleys—which comprise a large 
part of the county—a rich sandy and gravelly loam, and very pro¬ 
ductive. The principal crop is wheat, of which probably no portion 
of the state, of equal extent, produces more. A great quantity of 
oats, corn, potatoes, &c., is raised, and grass and fruit in abundance. 
A majority of the population are of Pennsylvania origin. Its pres¬ 
ent territory originally comprised the townships of Vermillion, 
Montgomery, Orange, Green and Hanover, with parts of Monroe, 
Mifflin, Milton and Clear Creek, of Richland county ; also the prin¬ 
cipal part of the townships of Jackson, Perry, Mohecan and Lake, 
of Wayne county; of Sullivan and Troy, Lorain county; and 
Ruggles, of Huron county. This tract, in 1840, contained a popu¬ 
lation of about 20,000, or 50 inhabitants to a square mile. 



Public Buildings in Ashland. 

Ashland, the county seat, was laid out in 1816, by William Mont¬ 
gomery, and bore, for many years, the name of Uniontown; it was 
changed to its present name in compliment to Henry Clay, whose 
seat near Lexington, Ky., bears that name. Daniel Carter, from 
Butler co., Pa., raised the first cabin in the county, about the year 1811, 
which stood where the store of Wm. Granger now is, in Ashland. 
Robert Newell, 3 miles east, and Mr. Fry, lj miles north of the 
village, raised cabins about the same time. In 1817, the first store 
was opened by Joseph Sheets, in a frame building now kept as a 
store by the widow Yonker. Joseph Sheets, David Markley, Sam¬ 
uel Ury, Nicholas Shseffer, Alanson Andrews, Elias Slocum and 
George W. Palmer were among the first settlers of the place. Ash¬ 
land is a flourishing village, 89 miles nw. of Columbus, and 14 from 
Mansfield. It contains 5 churches, viz : 2 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal 
Methodist, 1 Lutheran, and 1 Disciples, 9 dry goods, 4 grocery, 1 
book, and 2 drug stores, 2 newspaper printing offices, a flourishing 

















36 


ASHLAND COUNTY. 


classical academy, numbering over 100 pupils of both sexes, and a 
population estimated at 1300. The above view was taken in front 
of the site selected for the erection of a court house, the Methodist 
church building—seen on the left—being now used for that purpose : 
the structures with steeples, commencing on the right, are the 1st 
Presbyterian church, the academy, and the 2d Presbyterian church. 

At the organization of the first court of common pleas for this 
county, at Ashland, an old gentleman, by the name of David Burns, 
was one of the grand jurors, who, as a remarkable fact, it is said, 
was also a member of the first grand jury ever empaneled in Ohio. 
The court met near the mouth of Wegee creek, in Belmont county, 
in 1795: the country being sparsely settled, he was compelled to 
travel forty miles to the place of holding court. 

Jeromeville, 8 miles se. of Ashland, on Lake Fork of Mohiccan, 
contains 6 stores and about 500 people. In the late war, it was the 
only settlement within the present limits of the county, and consisted 
of a few families, who erected pickets for their safety. There was 
at that time a Frenchman, named Jerome, who resided there and 
gave name to the locality. He had been an Indian trader, and had 
taken a squaw for a wife. The people of that nation always be¬ 
came more easily domesticated among the Aborigines than the 
English. From very early times it was the policy of the French 
government not to allow their soldiers to take wives with them into 
the wilderness. Hence the soldiers and traders frequently married 
among the Indians, and were enabled to sustain themselves with far 
less difficulty. 

The Delaware Indians had a settlement at or near Jeromeville, 
which they left at the beginning of the war. Their chief was old 
Captain Pipe, who resided near the road to Mansfield, one mile 
south of Jeromeville. When young he was a great warrior, and 
the implacable foe of the whites. He was in St. Clair’s defeat, 
where, according to his own account, he distinguished himself and 
slaughtered white men until his arm was weary with the work. He 
had a daughter of great beauty. A young chief, of noble mien, 
became in love with her, and on his suit being rejected, mortally 
poisoned himself with the May apple. A Captain Pipe, whose In¬ 
dian name was Tauhangecaupouye , removed to the small Delaware 
Reserve, in the upper part of Marion county, and when his tribe 
sold out, about 20 years since, accompanied them to the far west, 
where he has since died. 

Loudonville 18 s., Rowsburg 9 e., Savannah 7 nw., Orange 4 e., 
and Haysville 8 s. of Ashland, are villages having each from 50 to 
60 dwellings. At the last is the Haysville Literary Institute: the 
building is a substantial brick edifice. Sullivan 14 ne., and Perrys- 
ville 18 sw., have each but a few dwellings. 


« 


ASHTABULA COUNTY. 


37 


ASHTABULA. 

Ashtabula was formed June 7,1807, from Trumbull and Geauga, 
and organized January 22, 1811. The name of the county was 
derived from Ashtabula river, which signifies, in the Indian lan¬ 
guage, Fish river. For a few miles parallel with the lake shore it is 
level, the remainder of the surface slightly undulating, and the soil 
generally clay. Butter and cheese are the principal articles of 
export. Generally, not sufficient wheat is raised for home consump¬ 
tion, but the soil is quite productive in corn and oats. The follow¬ 
ing is a list of its townships, in 1840, with their population. 


Andover, 

881 

Kingsville, 

1420 

Richmond, 

384 

Ashtabula, 

1711 

Lenox, 

550 

Rome, 

765 

Austinburg, 

1048 

Milford, 

173 

Saybrook, 

934 

Cherry Valley, 689 

Monroe, 

1326 

Sheffield, 

683 

Conneaut, 

2650 

Morgan, 

643 

Trumbull, 

439 

Denmark, 

1676 

New Lyme, 

527 

Wayne, 

767 

Geneva, 

1215 

Orwell, 

458 

Williamsfield, 

892 

Harpersfield, 

1399 

Phelps, 

530 

Windsor, 

875 

Hartsgrove, 

553 

Pierpont, 

639 



Jefferson, 

710 

Plymouth, 

706 



he population 

of the 

county, in 1820, 

was 7,369 ; in 1830, 14,584 


in 1840, 23,724, or 34 inhabitants to a square mile. 

This county is memorable from being not only the first settled on 
the Western Reserve, but the earliest in the whole of northern 
Ohio. The incidents connected with its early history, although 
unmarked by scenes of military adventure, are of an interesting 
nature. They have been well collected and preserved by the Ash¬ 
tabula Historical Society. This association, with a praiseworthy 
industry, have collected nearly a thousand folio pages of manuscript, 
relating principally to this county. Some of the articles are finely 
written, and as a whole, give a better idea of the toils, privations, 
customs and mode of pioneer life than any work that has ever met 
our notice. From this collection we have extracted nearly all the 
historical materials embodied under the head of this county. 

On the 4th of July, 1796, the first surveying party of the Western 
Reserve landed at the mouth of Conneaut creek. Of this event, 
John Barr, Esq., in his sketch of the Western Reserve, in the National 
Magazine for December, 1845, has given a narration. 

The sons of revolutionary sires, some of them sharers of themselves in the great baptism 
of the republic, they made the anniversary of their country’s freedom a day of ceremonial 
and rejoicing. They felt that they had arrived at the place of their labors, the—to many 
of them—sites of home, as little alluring, almost as crowded with dangers, as were the 
levels of Jamestown, or the rocks of Plymouth to the ancestors who had preceded them in 
the conquest of the seacoast wilderness of this continent. From old homes and friendly and 
social associations, they were almost as completely exiled as were the cavaliers who de¬ 
barked upon the shores of Virginia, or the Puritans who sought the strand of Massachusetts. 
Far away as they were from the villages of their birth and boyhood ; before them the track¬ 
less forest, or the untraversed lake, yet did they resolve to cast fatigue and privation and 


38 


ASHTABULA COUNTY. 


peril from their thoughts for the time being, and give to the day its due, to patriotism its 
awards. Mustering their numbers, they sat them down on the eastward shore of the 
stream now known as Conneaut, and, dipping from the lake the liquor in which they 
pledged their country—their goblets some tin cups of no rare workmanship, yet every way 
answerable, with the ordnance accompaniment of two or three fowling pieces discharging 
the required national salute—the first settlers of the Reserve spent their landing-day as 
became the sons of the Pilgrim Fathers—as the advance pioneers of a population that has 



Conneaut ,* the Plymouth of the Reserve , in July, 1796. 


since made the then wilderness of northern Ohio to “ blossom as the rose,” and prove the 
homes of a people as remarkable for integrity, industry, love of country, moral truth and 
enlightened legislation, as any to be found within the territorial limits of their ancestral 
New England. 

The whole party numbered, on this occasion, fifty-two persons, of whom two were fe¬ 
males. (Mrs. Stiles and Mrs. Gunn, and a child.) As these individuals were the advance 
of after millions of population, their names become worthy of record, and are therefore 
given, viz.: Moses Cleveland, agent of the company ; Augustus Porter, principal surveyor ; 
Seth Pease, Moses Warren, Amos Spafford, Milton Hawley, Richard M. Stoddard, sur¬ 
veyors ; Joshua Stowe, commissary ; Theodore Shepard, physician ; Joseph Tinker, prin¬ 
cipal boatman; Joseph McIntyre, George Proudfoot, Francis Gay, Samuel Forbes, Elijah 
Gunn, wife and child, Amos Sawten, Stephen Benton, Amos Barber, Samuel Hungerford, 
William B. Hall, Samuel Davenport, Asa Mason, Amzi Atwater, Michael Coffin, Elisha 
Ayres, Thomas Harris, Norman Wilcox, Timothy Dunham, George Goodwin, Shadrach 
Benham, Samuel Agnew, Warham Shepard, David Beard, John Briant, Titus V. Munson, 
Joseph Landon, Job V. Stiles and wife, Charles Parker, Ezekiel Hawley, Nathaniel Doan, 
Luke Hanchet, James Hasket, James Hamilton, Olney F. Rice, John Lock, and four others 
whose names are not mentioned. 

On the 5th of July, the workmen of the expedition were employed in the erection of a 
large, awkwardly constructed log building; locating it on the sandy beach on the east 
shore of the stream, and naming it “ Stow Castle,” after one of the party. This became 
the storehouse of the provisions, &c., and the dwelling-place of the families. 

The spot where the above described scene took place, has much 
altered in the lapse of half a century. One of the party, Amzi At¬ 
water, Esq., now living in Portage county, in a communication before 
us, says: 


* The view was constructed from a sketch as the place is now, altered to represent 
its ancient appearance. The word Conneaut, in the Seneca language, signifies “ many 
fish ,” and was applied originally to the river. 





























ASHTABULA COUNTY. 


39 


It was then a mere sand beach overgrown with timber, some of it of considerable size, 
which we cut to build the house and for other purposes. The mouth of the creek, like 
others of the lake streams in those days, was frequently choked up with a sand bar so that 
no visible harbor appeared for several days. This would only happen when the streams 
were low and after a high wind either down the lake or directly on shore for several days. 

I have passed over all the lake streams of this state east of the Cuyahoga and most of 
those in New York on hard, dry sand bars, and I have been told that the Cuyahoga has 
been so. They would not long continue, for as soon as the wind had subsided and the 
water in the streams had sufficiently risen, they would often cut their way through the bar 
in a different place and form new channels. Thus the mouths of the streams were con¬ 
tinually shifting until the artificial harbors were built. Those blessed improvements have 
in a great measure remedied those evils and made the mouths of the streams far more 
healthy. 

Judge James Kingsbury, who arrived at Conneaut shortly after 
the surveying party, wintered with his family at this place in a cabin 
which stood on a spot now covered by the waters of the lake. This 
was about the first family that wintered on the Reserve. 

The story of the sufferings of this family has often been told, but in the midst of plenty, 
where want is unknown, can with difficulty be appreciated. The surveyors, in the prose¬ 
cution of their labors westwardly, had principally removed their stores to Cleveland, while 
the family of Judge Kingsbury remained at Conneaut. Being compelled by business to 
leave in the fall for the state of New York, with the hope of a speedy return to his family, 
the Judge was attacked by a severe fit of sickness confining him to his bed until the setting 
in of winter. As soon as able he proceeded on his return as far as Buffalo, where he hired 
an Indian to guide him through the wilderness. At Presque Isle, anticipating the wants 
of his family, he purchased twenty pounds of flour. In crossing Elk Creek on the ice, 
he disabled his horse, left him in the snow, and mounting his flour on his own back, 
pursued his way filled with gloomy forebodings in relation to the fate of his family. On 
his arrival late one evening, his worst apprehensions were more than realized in a scene 
agonizing to the husband and father. Stretched on her cot lay the partner of his cares, 
who had followed him through all the dangers and hardships of the wilderness without 
repining, pale and emaciated, reduced by meagre famine to the last stages in which life 
can be supported, and near the mother, on a little pallet, were the remains of his youngest 
child, born in his absence, who had just expired for the want of that nourishment which 
the mother, deprived of sustenance, was unable to give. Shut up by a gloomy wilderness, 
she was far distant alike from the aid or sympathy of friends, filled with anxiety for an ab¬ 
sent husband, suffering with want and destitute of necessary assistance, and her children 
expiring around her with hunger. 

Such is the picture presented, by which the wives and daughters of the present day may 
form some estimate of the hardships endured by the pioneers of this beautiful country. It 
appears that Judge Kingsbury, in order to supply the wants of his family, was under the 
necessity of transporting his provisions from Cleveland on a hand sled, and that himself 
and hired man drew a barrel of beef the whole distance at a single load. 

Mr. Kingsbury has since held several important judicial and legis¬ 
lative trusts, and is yet living in Newberg, about four miles distant 
from Cleveland. He was the first who thrust a sickle into the first 
wheat field planted on the soil of the Reserve. Ilis wife was in¬ 
terred at Cleveland, about the year 1843. The fate of her child— 
the first white child born on the Reserve, starved to death for want 
of nourishment—will not soon be forgotten. 

The harbor of Conneaut is now an important point of tranship¬ 
ment. It has a pier, with a lighthouse upon it, 2 forwarding houses, 
and 11 dwellings. Several vessels ply from here, and it is a fre¬ 
quent stopping place for steamers. Two miles north of the harbor, 
22 from Jefferson, 28 from Erie, Pa., is the borough of Conneaut, or 
Salem, on the west bank of Conneaut creek. It contains 1 Baptist, 
1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist, and 1 Christian church, 11 mercantile 


ASHTABULA COUNTY. 


40 

stores, 1 newspaper printing office, a fine classical academy, Mr. L. 
W. Savage and Miss Mary Booth, Principals, and about 1000 inhab¬ 
itants. East and West Conneaut and South Ridge are small places 
in this, the township of Conneaut, which once bore the name of 
Salem. 

The first permanent settlement in Conneaut was in 1799. Thomas Montgomery and 
Aron Wright settled here in the spring of 1798. Robert Montgomery and family, Levi 
and John Montgomery, Nathan and John King, and Samuel Barnes and family came the 
same season. 

When the settlers arrived, some twenty or thirty Indian cabins were still standing, which 
were said to present an appearance of neatness and comfort not usual with this race. The 
Massauga tribe, which inhabited the spot, were obliged to leave in consequence of the 
murder of a white man named Williams. 

Two young men taken at the defeat of St. Clair, were said to have been prisoners for a 
considerable time among the Indians of this village. On their arrival at Conneaut they 
were made to run the gauntlet, and received the orthodox number of blows and kicks usual 
on such occasions. In solemn council it was resolved that the life of Fitz Gibbon should 
be saved, but the other, whose name is not recollected, was condemned to be burned. He 
was bound to a tree, a large quantity of hickory barks tied into faggots and piled around 
him. But from the horrors of the most painful of deaths he was saved by the interposition 
of a young squaw belonging to the tribe. Touched by sympathy she interceded in his 
behalf, and by her expostulations, backed by several packages of fur and a small sum of 
money, succeeded in effecting his deliverance: an act in the lowly Indian maid which 
entitles her name to be honorably recorded with that of Pocahontas, among the good and 
virtuous of every age. 

There were mounds situated in the eastern part of the village of Conneaut and an ex¬ 
tensive burying ground near the Presbyterian church, which appear to have had no con¬ 
nection with the burying places of the Indians. Among the human bones found in the 
mounds were some belonging to men of gigantic structure. Some of the skulls* were of 
sufficient capacity to admit the head of an ordinary man, and jaw bones that might have 
been fitted on over the face with equal facility: the other bones were proportionably large. 
The burying ground referred to contained about four acres, and with the exception of a 
slight angle in conformity with the natural contour of the ground, was in the form of an 
oblong square. It appeared to have been accurately surveyed into lots running from north 
to south, and exhibited all the order and propriety of arrangement deemed necessary to 
constitute Christian burial. On the first examination of the ground by the settlers, they 
found it covered with the ordinary forest trees, with an opening near the centre containing 
a single butternut. The graves were distinguished by slight depressions disposed in straight 
rows, and were estimated to number from two to three thousand. On examination in 
1800, they were found to contain human bones, invariably blackened by time, which on 
exposure to the air, soon crumbled to dust. Traces of ancient cultivation observed by the 
first settlers on the lands of the vicinity, although covered with forest, exhibited signs of 
having once been thrown up into squares and terraces, and laid out into gardens. 

There is a fragment or chip of a tree in the possession of the His¬ 
torical Society, which is a curiosity. The tree of which that was 
a chip, was chopped down and butted off for a saw log, about three 
feet from the ground, some thirty rods se. of Fort Hill, in Conneaut, 
in 1829, by Silas A. Davis, on land owned by B. H. King. Some 
marks were found upon it near the heart of the tree. The Hon. 
Nehemiah King, with a magnifying glass, counted 350 annualer 
rings in that part of the stump, outside of these marks. Deducting 


* In the spring of 1815, a mound on Harbor street, Conneaut, was cut through for a 
road. One morning succeeding a heavy rain, a Mr. Walker, who was up very early, 
picked up a jaw bone together with an artificial tooth which lay near. He brought them 
forthwith to Mr. P. R. Spencer, at present the Secretary of the Ashtabula Historical So¬ 
ciety, who fitted the tooth in a cavity from which it had evidently fallen. The tooth was 
metallic, probably silver, but little was then thought of the circumstance. 



ASHTABULA COUNTY. 


41 


350 from 1829, leaves 1479, which must have been the year when 
these cuts were made. This was 13 years before the discovery of 
America, by Columbus. It perhaps was done by the race of the 
mounds, with an axe of copper, as that people had the art of harden¬ 
ing that metal so as to cut like steel. 

The adventure of Mr. Solomon Sweetland, of Conneaut, who 
crossed Lake Erie in an open canoe, in September, 1817, is one of 
unusual interest. He had been accustomed, with the aid of a neigh¬ 
bor, Mr. Cousins, and a few hounds, to drive the deer into the lake, 
where, pursuing them in a canoe, he shot them with but little diffi¬ 
culty. The circumstances which took place at this time, are vividly 
given in the annexed extract from the records of the Historical 
Society. 

It was a lovely morning in early autumn, and Sweatland, in anticipation of his favorite 
sport, had risen at the first dawn of light, and without putting on his coat or waistcoat left 
his cabin, listening in the mean time in expectation of the approach of the dogs. His 
patience was not put to a severe trial ere his ears were saluted by the deep baying of the 
hounds, and on arriving at the beach he perceived that the deer had already taken to the 
lake, and was moving at some distance from the shore. In the enthusiasm of the moment 
he threw his hat upon the beach, his canoe was put in requisition, and shoving from the 
shore he was soon engaged in a rapid and animated pursuit. The wind, which had been 
fresh from the south during the night and gradually increasing, was now blowing nearly a 
gale, but intent on securing his prize, Sweatland was not in a situation to yield to the dic¬ 
tates of prudence. The deer, which was a vigorous animal of its kind, hoisted its flag of 
defiance, and breasting the waves stoutly showed that in a race with a log canoe and a 
single paddle, he was not easily outdone. 

Sweatland had attained a considerable distance from the shore and encountered a heavy 
sea before overtaking the animal, but was not apprized of the eminent peril of his situation 
until shooting past him the deer turned towards the shore. He was however brought to a 
full appreciation of his danger when, on tacking his frail vessel and heading towards the 
land, he found that with his utmost exertions he could make no progress in the desired 
direction, but was continually drifting farther to sea. He had been observed in his outward 
progress by Mr. Cousins, who had arrived immediately after the hounds, and by his own 
family, and as he disappeared from sight, considerable apprehensions were entertained for 
his safety. 

The alarm was soon given in the neighborhood, and it was decided by those competent 
to judge that his return would be impossible, and that unless help could be afforded he was 
doomed to perish at sea. Actuated by those generous impulses that often induce men to 
peril their own lives to preserve those of others, Messrs. Gilbert, Cousins and Belden took a 
light boat at the mouth of the creek and proceeded in search of the wanderer, with the de¬ 
termination to make every effort for his relief. They met the deer returning towards the 
shore nearly exhausted, but the man who was the object of their solicitude was no where 
to be seen. They made stretches off shore within probable range of the fugitive for some 
hours, until they had gained a distance of five or six miles from land, when meeting with a 
sea in which they judged it impossible for a canoe to live, they abandoned the search, re¬ 
turned with difficulty to the shore, and Sweatland was given up for lost. 

The canoe in which he was embarked was dug from a large whitewood log, by Major 
James Brookes, for a fishing boat: it was about fourteen feet in length and rather wide in 
proportion, and was considered a superior one of the kind. Sweatland still continued to 
lie off, still heading towards the land, with the faint hope that the wind might abate, or that 
aid might reach him from the shore. One or two schooners were in sight in course of the 
day, and he made every signal in his power to attract their attention, but without success. 
The shore continued in sight, and in tracing its distant outline he could distinguish the 
spot where his cabin stood, within whose holy precincts were contained the cherished ob¬ 
jects of his affections, now doubly endeared from the prospect of losing them forever. As 
these familiar objects receded from view, and the shores appeared to sink beneath the 
troubled waters, the last tie which united him in companionship to his fellow-men seemed 
dissolved, and the busy world, with all its interests, forever hidden from his sight. 

Fortunately Sweatland possessed a cool head and a stout heart, which, united with a 

6 


42 


ASHTABULA COUNTY. 


tolerable share of physical strength and power of endurance, eminently qualified him for 
the part he was to act in this emergency. He was a good sailor, and as such would not 
yield to despondency until the last expedient had been exhausted. One only expedient 
remained, that of putting before the wind and endeavoring to reach the Canada shore, a 
distance of about fifty miles. This he resolved to embrace as his forlorn hope. 

It was now blowing a gale, and the sea was evidently increasing as he proceeded from 
the shore, and yet he was borne onwards over the dizzy waters by a power that no human 
agency could control. He was obliged to stand erect, moving cautiously from one ex¬ 
tremity to the other, in order to trim his vessel to the waves, well aware that a single lost 
stroke of the paddle, or a tottering movement, would sw'amp his frail bark and bring his 
adventure to a final close. Much of his attention was likewise required in bailing his 
canoe from the water, an operation which he was obliged to perform by making use of his 
shoes, a substantial pair of stoggies, that happened fortunately to be upon his feet. 

Hitherto he had been blessed with the cheerful light of heaven, and amidst all his perils 
could say, “ The light is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the sun,” 
but to add to his distress, the shades of night were now gathering around him, and he was 
soon enveloped in darkness. The sky was overcast, and the light of a few stars that 
twinkled through the haze alone remained to guide his path over the dark and troubled 
waters. In this fearful condition, destitute of food and the necessary clothing, his log 
canoe was rocked upon the billows during that long and terrible night. When morning 
appeared he was in sight of land, and found he had made Long Point, on the Canada shore. 
Here he was met by an adverse wind and a cross sea, but the same providential aid w’hich 
had guided him thus far still sustained and protected him; and after being buffeted by the 
winds and waves for nearly thirty hours, he succeeded in reaching the land in safety. 

What were the emotions he experienced on treading once more “ the green and solid 
earth,” we shall not attempt to inquire, but his trials were not yet ended. He found him¬ 
self faint with hunger and exhausted with fatigue, at the distance of forty miles from any 
human habitation, whilst the country that intervened was a desert filled with marshes and 
tangled thickets, from which nothing could be obtained to supply his wants. These diffi¬ 
culties, together with the reduced state of his strength, rendered his progress towards the 
settlements slow and toilsome. On his way he found a quantity of goods, supposed to 
have been driven on shore from the wreck of some vessel, which, although they afforded 
him no immediate relief, were afterwards of material service. 

He ultimately arrived at the settlement, and was received and treated with great kind¬ 
ness and hospitality by the people. After his strength was sufficiently recruited, he returned 
with a boat, accompanied by some of the inhabitants, and brought off’ the goods. From 
this place he proceeded by land to Buffalo, where, with the avails of his treasure, he fur¬ 
nished himself in the garb of a gentleman, and finding the Salem packet, Captain Ward, 
from Conneaut, in the harbor, he shipped on board and was soon on his way to rejoin his 
family. When the packet arrived off his dwelling, they fired guns from the deck and the 
crew gave three loud cheers. On landing, he found his funeral sermon had been preached, 
and had the rare privilege of seeing his own widow clothed in the habiliments of mourning. 

The first regular settlement made within the present limits of the 
county was at Harpersfield, on the 7th of March, 1798. Alexander 
Harper, Wm. M’Farland and Ezra Gregory, with their families, 
started from Harpersfield, Delaware county, New York, and after 
a long and fatiguing journey arrived on the last of June, at their new 
homes in the wilderness. This little colony of about twenty per¬ 
sons, endured much privation in the first few months of their resi¬ 
dence. The whole population of the Reserve amounted to less than 
150 souls, viz : ten families at Youngstown, three at Cleveland, and 
two at Mentor. In the same summer three families came to Bur¬ 
ton, and Judge Hudson settled at Hudson. 

Cut short of their expected supplies of provision for the winter, by the loss of a vessel they 
had chartered for that purpose, the little colony came near perishing by famine, having at 
one time been reduced to six kernels of parched com to each person; but they were saved 
by the intrepidity of the sons of Col. Harper, James and William. These young men made 
frequent journies to Elk Creek, Pa., from which they packed on their backs bags of corn, 
which was about all the provision the settlers had to sustain life during a long and tedious 
winter. Some few of their journies were performed on the ice of Lake Erie, whenever it 


ASHTABULA COUNTY. 


43 


was sufficiently strong to bear them, which was seldom. On the first occasion of this kind 
they were progressing finely on the ice, when their sled broke through into the water. A third 
person who happened to be with them at this time exclaimed, “ What shall we do V* “ Let 
it go,” James replied. “ No!” exclaimed William, who was of a different temperament, 
“ you go into the woods and strike a fire while I get the grain.” He then with great diffi¬ 
culty secured the grain, by which operation he got completely wet through, and a cutting 
wind soon converted his clothing into a sheet of ice. He then went in search of his com¬ 
panions and was disappointed in finding they had not built a fire. The truth was, they had 
grown so sleeply with the intense cold as to be unable to strike fire. He soon had a cheer¬ 
ful blaze, and then converted himself into a nurse for the other two, who on getting warm 
were deadly sick. 



County Buildings at Jefferson. 


Jefferson, the county seat, is 56 miles from Cleveland and 204 ne. 
of Columbus. It is an incorporated borough, laid out regularly on 
a level plat of ground, and contains 3 stores, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Epis¬ 
copal, and 1 Methodist Church, and 73 dwellings. The township 
of the same name in which it is situated, was originally owned by 
Gideon Granger of Conn. In the spring of 1804 he sent out Mr. 
Eldad Smith from Suffield in that state, who first opened a bridle 
path to Austinburg, and sowed and fenced ten acres of wheat. In 
the summer of the next year, Michael Webster, Jr., and family, and 
Jonathan Warner, made a permanent settlement. In the fall follow¬ 
ing, the family of James Wilson built a cabin on the site of the tavern 
shown in the view. The court house was finished in 1810 or ’ll, 
and the first court held in 1811 ; Timothy R. Hawley, Clerk, Quin¬ 
tus F. Atkins, Sheriff. 

Ashtabula is on Ashtabula river, on the Buffalo and Cleveland 
road, 8 miles from Jefferson. It is a pleasant village, adorned with 
neat dwellings and shrubbery. The borough contains 1 Presbyte¬ 
rian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, and 1 Baptist church, 10 mercantile 
stores, and a population estimated at 1200. 

The harbor of Ashtabula is miles from the village at the mouth 
of the river. It has several forwarding establishments, 20 or 30 
houses, the lake steamers stop there, and considerable business is 
carried on; about a dozen vessels are owned at this port. The com- 

















44 


ASHTABULA COUNTY. 


mercial business of this and Lake county has been much injured by 
the internal improvement system of the state, which has diverted 
the back country trade into other channels. When the Erie canal 



East Public Square, Ashtabula. 


was finished, Northern Ohio felt its invigorating effects, for from the 
depression of the times after the late war, until the opening of that 
canal and the commencement of steam navigation on the lake, bu¬ 
siness languished and made but little progress. The invigorating 
effects of that work prompted a spirit in Ohio for similar enterprises. 
The representatives of this vicinity in the legislature drank deeply 
of the general enthusiasm, although aware that in any event their 
constituents would receive but a general benefit. 

The prosperity of Ashtabula received a severe shock in the loss 
of the steamer Washington, destroyed by fire on Lake Erie, off Silver 
Creek, in June, 1838, by which misfortune about 40 lives were lost. 
This boat was built at Ashtabula harbor, and most of her stock was 
owned by persons of moderate circumstances in this place. She 
was commanded by Capt. N. W. Brown. A passenger who was on 
board published, a few days after, the following account of this dis¬ 
astrous event. 

The W. left Cleveland on her passage down from Detroit, June 14th, at 8 A. M., pro¬ 
ceeded on her way until Saturday 2 o’clock, A. M., when she arrived in the vicinity of Sil¬ 
ver Creek, about 33 miles from Buffalo. The boat was discovered to be on fire, which pro¬ 
ceeded from beneath the boilers. The passengers were alarmed, and aroused from their 
slumbers; such a scene of confusion and distress ensued as those only of my readers can 
imagine who have been in similar circumstances. Despair did not however completely 
possess the mass, until it became evident that the progress of the flames could not be ar¬ 
rested. From that moment the scene beggars all description. Suffice it to say, that numbers 
precipitated themselves from the burning mass into the water ; some of them with a shriek 
of despair, and others silently sunk beneath the waves; others momentarily more fortunate 
swam a short distance and drowned; others still, on pieces of boards and wood, arrived on 
the beach ; yet some even of them, sank into a watery grave. The small boat had by this 
time put off loaded with about 25 souls for the shore. Those arrived safe, picking up one 
or two by the way. 

The writer of this article was one of the number. Other small boats came to our assist¬ 
ance, which, together with the Washington’s boat, saved perhaps a majority of the passen¬ 
gers on board. There is reason to believe that as many as 40 perished. It is impossible 
to compute the precise number. Many remained on the boat till it was wrapped in one 
sheet of flame. Of those there is reason to believe that numbers perished in the confla¬ 
gration ; while others, half burned, precipitated themselves into the watery element, thus 























ASHTABULA COUNTY. 


45 


suffering the double agency of death by fire and water. Most of the crew were saved, 
the Captain among the number, who, during the awful calamity, acted with the utmost de¬ 
cision and intrepidity. Indeed, no blame, so far as the writer has been informed, has been 
attached to any officer or hand on the boat. The utmost exertion was used to move her 
on the shore, until it became necessary to stop the engine in order to let down the small 
boat, which having been done, the fire had progressed so far as to render it impossible to 
again start the machinery. I give a few particulars of the losses of the passengers. Mr. 
Shudds is the only survivor of his family of seven. A lady passenger lost three children, 
a sister and mother. Mr. Michael Parker lost his wife and parents, sister and her child. 
But I will not further continue the cases of individual bereavement. 

Kingsville, 14 miles ne. of Jefferson, contains 1 Baptist, 1 Pres¬ 
byterian, and 1 Methodist church; 3 stores, a woolen factory, and 
about 400 people. It is a pleasant village and has a public square 
on which stand the churches. It is surrounded by a fine and intelli¬ 
gent agricultural community. At this place is the Kingsville Acad¬ 
emy, a thriving institution, in good repute, with about 130 pupils, 
under the charge of Mr. Z. Graves, and supported by the public 
spirit of the vicinity. The water privileges are good at Kingsville: 
Conneaut creek runs near the village, on which are several mills 
and factories, and a branch runs through it, on which, within half a 
mile, are 5 improved water privileges. 

Six miles westerly from Jefferson is Austinburg, a village similar 
in character to the above. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Congrega¬ 
tional, and 1 Free Will Baptist church, and about 300 people. West 
of the town, on a commanding site, is the Grand River Institute, 
Rev. Thomas Tenney, Principal. The buildings are spacious and 
comfortable and the institution flourishing, having a large fund for 
its support and about 150 pupils of both sexes. 

The original proprietors of this township were Wm. Battell, of 
Torringford, Solomon Rockwell & Co., of Winchester, and Elipha- 
let Austin, of New Hartford, Ct. By the instrumentality of Judge 
Austin, from whom the town was named, two families moved to this 
place from Connecticut in 1799. The Judge preceded them a short 
time driving, in company with a hired man, some cattle 150 miles 
through the woods on an Indian trail, while the rest came in a boat 
across the lake. There was at this time a few families at Harpers- 
field ; at Windsor, southwest, about 20 miles, a family or two ; also 
at Elk creek, 40 miles northeast, and at Vernon, 40 miles southeast, 
were several families, all of whom were in a destitute condition for 
provisions. In the year 1800, another family moved from Nor¬ 
folk, Conn. In the spring of 1801, there was an accession of ten 
families to the settlement, principally from Norfolk, Conn. Part of 
these came from Buffalo by water, and part by land through the 
wilderness. During that season wheat was carried to mill at Elk 
creek, a distance of 40 miles, and in some instances one half was 
given for carrying it to mill and returning it in flour. 

On Wednesday, October 24th, 1801, a church was constituted at 
Austinburg with sixteen members. This was the first church on 
the Western Reserve, and was founded by the Rev. Joseph Badger, 
the first missionary on the Reserve, a sketch of whom is in another 
part of this volume. It is a fact worthy of note, that in 1802, Mr. 


46 


ASHTABULA COUNTY. 


Badger moved his family from Buffalo to this town, in the first wag¬ 
on that ever came from that place to the Reserve. In 1803, Aus- 
tinburg, Morgan and Harpersfield experienced a revival of religion 
by which about 35 from those places united with the church at Aus- 
tinburg. This revival was attended with the phenomena of “ bodily 
exercises ,” then common in the west. They have been classified by a 
clerical writer as 1st, the Falling exercise ; 2d, the Jerking exercise ; 
3d, the Rolling exercise ; 4th, the Running exercise ; 5th, the Dan¬ 
cing exercise; 6th, the Barking exercise; 7th, Visions and Trances. 
We make room for an extract from his account of the 2d of the 
series, which sufficiently characterises the remainder. 

It was familiarly called The Jerks, and the first recorded instance of its occurrence was 
at a sacrament in East Tennessee, when several hundred of both sexes were seized with 
this strange and involuntary contortion. The subject was instantaneously seized with 
spasms or convulsions in every muscle, nerve and tendon. His head was thrown or jerked 
from side to side with such rapidity that it was impossible to distinguish his visage, and the 
most lively fears were awakened lest he should dislocate his neck or dash out his brains. 
His body partook of the same impulse and was hurried on by like jerks over every obstacle, 
fallen trunks of trees, or in a church, over pews and benches, apparently to the most im¬ 
minent danger of being bruised and mangled. It was useless to attempt to hold or restrain 
him, and the paroxysm was permitted gradually to exhaust itself. An additional motive 
for leaving him to himself was the superstitious notion that all attempt at restraint was 
resisting the spirit of God. 

The first form in which these spasmodic contortions made their appearance was that of 
a simple jerking of the arms from the elbows downwards. The jerk was very quick and 
sudden, and followed with short intervals. This was the simplest and most common form, 
but the convulsive motion was not confined to the arms; it extended in many instances to 
other parts of the body. When the joint of the neck was affected, the head was thrown 
backward and forward with a celerity frightful to behold, and which was impossible to be 
imitated by persons who were not under the same stimulus. The bosom heaved, the coun¬ 
tenance was disgustingly distorted, and the spectators were alarmed lest the neck should 
be broken. When the hair was long, it was shaken with such quickness, backward and 
forward, as to crack and snap like the lash of a whip. Sometimes the muscles of the back 
were affected, and the patient was thrown down on the ground, when his contortions for 
some time resembled those of a live fish cast from its native element on the land. 

The most graphic description we have is from one who was not only an eye witness, but 
an apologist. He says, “Nothing in nature could better represent this strange and unac¬ 
countable operation, than for one to goad another, alternately on every side, with a piece of 
red hot iron. The exercise commonly began in the head, which would fly backward and 
forward, and from side to side, with a quick jolt, which the person would naturally labor to 
suppress, but in vain ; and the more any one labored to stay himself and be sober, the more 
he staggered, and the more his twitches increased. He must necessarily go as he was in¬ 
clined, whether with a violent dash on the ground, and bounce from place to place like a 
foot-ball, or hop round, with head, limbs and trunk twitching, and jolting in every direction, 
as if they must inevitably fly asunder. And how such could escape without injury, was 
no small wonder among spectators. By this strange operation the human frame was 
commonly so transformed and disfigured, as to lose every trace of its natural appearance. 
Sometimes the head would be twitched right and left, to a half round, with such velocity, 
that not a feature could be discovered, but the face appeared as much behind as before • 
and in the quick progressive jerk, it would seem as if the person was transmuted into some* 
other species of creature. Head dresses were of little account among the female jerkers. 
Even handkerchiefs bound tight round the head would be flirted off almost with the first 
twitch, and the hair put into the utmost confusion ; this was a very great inconvenience to 
redress which the generality were shorn, though directly contrary to their confession of 
faith. Such as were seized with the jerks, were wrested at once, not only from under their 
own government, but that of every one else, so that it was dangerous to attempt confining 
them or touching them in any manner, to whatever danger they were exposed, yet few were 
hurt, except it were such as rebelled against the operation, through wilful and deliberate 
enmity, and refused to comply with the injunctions which it came to enforce.” 

From the universal testimony of those who have described these spasms, they appear to 


ASHTABULA COUNTY. 


47 


have been wholly involuntary. This remark is applicable also to all the other bodily exer¬ 
cises. What demonstrates satisfactorily their involuntary nature is, not only that, as above 
stated, the twitches prevailed in spite of resistance, and even more for attempts to suppress 
them ; but that wicked men would be seized with them while sedulously guarding against 
an attack, and cursing every jerk when made. Travellers on their journey, and laborers 
at their daily work, were also liable to them. 

We conclude our sketch of the county with some amusing inci¬ 
dents, related in the mss. of the Society; although trivial in them¬ 
selves, they are important in illustration. 

There is a stream in Geneva, called “ Morse's Slough and it took its cognomen in this 
wise. For a time after the Spencers, Austin, Hale, and Morse commenced operations on 
the lake shore, in the ne. corner of Geneva, they plied their labors there only a week at 
the time, or as long as a back load of provisions, that each carried, might happen to last. 
Whatever time of the week they went out, those having families returned on Saturday 
night to the settlements, and those without, returned whenever out of provisions. The 
main portion of provisions by them thus transported, consisted of Indian or corn bread: 
and whoever has been used to the labors of the woods, swinging the axe, for instance, from 
sun to sun, and limited to that kind of diet almost solely, will know that it requires a 
johnny-cake of no slight dimensions and weight to last an axeman a whole week. It must, 
in short, be a mammoth of its species! Such a loaf, baked in a huge Dutch oven, was 
snugly and firmly pinioned to the back of James M. Morse, as he, with others, wended his 
way to the lake shore, intent upon the labors of the week. 

The stream was then nameless, but nevertheless had to be crossed, and Morse must cross 
it to reach the scene of his labors. Although a light man, he had become ponderous by the 
addition of this tremendous johnny-cake. The ice lay upon the streams, and men passed 
and re-passed unloaded without harm. Not so those borne down with such incumbrance 
as distinguished the back of Morse, who was foremost among the gang of pioneers, all 
marching in Indian file and similarly encumbered. They came to the stream. Morse 
rushed upon the ice—it trembled—cracked— broke —and in a moment he was initiated 
into the mysteries beneath, with the johnny-cake holding him firmly to the bottom. 

The water and mud, though deep, were not over his head. The company, by aid of 
poles, approached him, removed the Gloucester hump of deformity from his shoulders, re¬ 
lieved him from his uncouth and unenvied attitude, and while he stood dripping and quiv¬ 
ering on the margin of the turbid element—amid a shout of laughter they named this 
stream “ Morse's Slough ” 

A young man by the name of Elijah Thompson, of Geneva, was out hunting in the 
forest with his favorite dog. While thus engaged, his dog left him as if he scented game, 
and soon was engaged with a pack of seven wolves. Young Thompson, more anxious for 
the dog than his own safety, rushed to the rescue, firing his rifle as he approached, and 
then clubbing it, made a fierce onset upon the enemy. His dog, being badly wounded and 
nearly exhausted, could give him no assistance, and the contest seemed doubtful. The 
wolves fought with desperation ; but the young man laid about him with so much energy 
and agility, that his blows told well, and he soon had the satisfaction of seeing wolf after 
wolf skulk away under the blows which he dealt them, until he remained master of the 
field, when, with the remains of his rifle—the barrel—on his shoulder, and his bleeding and 
helpless dog under his arm, he left the scene panting and weary, though not materially 
injured in the conflict. 

Mrs. John Austin, of the same township, hearing, on one occasion, a bear among her 
hogs, determined to defeat his purpose. First hurrying her little children up a ladder into 
her chamber, for safety, in case she was overcome by the animal, she seized a rifle, and 
rushing to the spot saw the bear only a few rods distant, carrying off a hog into the woods, 
while the prisoner sent forth deafening squeals, accompanied by the rest of the sty in full 
chorus. Nothing daunted, she rushed forward to the scene with her rifle ready cocked, 
on which the monster let go his prize, raised himself upon his haunches and faced her. 
Dropping upon her knees to obtain a steady aim, and resting her rifle on the fence, within 
six feet of the bear, the intrepid female pulled the trigger. Perhaps fortunately for her, 
the rifle missed fire. Again and again she snapped her piece, but with the same result. 
The bear, after keeping his position some time, dropped down on all fours, and leaving the 
hogs behind, retreated to the forest and resigned the field to the woman. 

The early settlers experienced great difficulty in preserving their swine from the ravages 
of wild beasts. Messrs. Morgan and Murrain, who, with their wives, dwelt in the same 
cabin, had with difficulty procured a sow, which, with her progeny, occupied a strong pen 


48 


ATHENS COUNTY. 


contiguous to the dwelling. During a dark night, their husbands being necessarily absent, 
the repose of the ladies was disturbed by a very shrill serenade from the pen: arousing 
from their slumbers, they discovered a large bear making an assault upon the swine. They 
attempted, by loud screams and throwing fire brands, to terrify the animal; but not suc¬ 
ceeding, they took an unloaded rifle, and having heard their husbands say that it required 
just two fingers of powder, they poured liberally into the muzzle, one of them in the mean¬ 
while measuring lengthwise of her fingers, until the full amount was obtained, then driving 
in a ball they sallied out to the attack. One lady held the light, while the other fired the 
gun. Such another report, from a tube of equal capacity, is seldom heard. The ladies 
both fell prostrate and insensible, and the gun flew into the bushes. The bear was doubt¬ 
less alarmed, but not materially injured. 

On the night of the 11th of August, 1812, the people of Conneaut were alarmed by a 
false report that the British were landing from some of their vessels. A sentinel, placed 
on the shore, descrying boats approaching, mistook them for the enemy. In his panic he 
threw away his musket, mounted his horse, and dashing through the settlement, cried 
with a stentorian voice, “ turn out! turn out! save your lives, the British and Indians are 
landing, and will be on you in fifteen minutes!” The people, aroused from their beds, 
fled in the utmost terror to various places of covert in the forest. Those of East Conneaut 
had sheltered themselves in a dense grove, which being near the high road, it was deemed 
that the most perfect silence should be maintained. By that soothing attention mothers 
know how to bestow, the cries of the children were measurably stilled ; but one little 
dog, from among his companions, kept up a continual unmitigated yelping. Various means 
having in vain been employed to still him, until the patience of the ladies was exhausted, 
it was nnanimously resolved, that that particular dog should die, and he was therefore 
sentenced to be hanged, without benefit of clergy. With the elastics supplied by the ladies, 
for a halter, and a young sapling for a gallows, the young dog passed from the shores of 
time to yelp no more. 

Rock Creek, 8 miles s. of Jefferson, contains 2 churches, 2 stores, 
1 saw, 1 grist, 1 oil mill, 2 tanneries, and about 60 dwellings. It is 
on a creek of the same name, which furnishes considerable water. 
Eagleville is a somewhat smaller manufacturing village, 4 miles sw. 
of Jefferson, on Mill creek, a good mill stream. Windsor, 20 miles 
sw. of Jefferson, contains about 40 dwellings. There are other small 
villages in the county, generally bearing the names of the townships 
in which they are situated. 


ATHENS. 

Athens was formed from Washington, March 1 , 1805, and derived 
its name from Athens, its seat of justice. The surface is broken 
and hilly, with intervals of rich bottom lands. The hilly lands are 
covered with a fertile soil, and a heavy growth of trees. The prin¬ 
cipal crops are wheat, corn, oats and tobacco. Excellent coal 
abounds, iron ore is found in many places, and quantities of salt are 
made. The Hocking canal commences at Carrol, on the Ohio canal, 
in Fairfield county, and follows the river valley to Athens, a distance 
of 56 miles. The business, now small, is rapidly increasing. The 
coal trade of this valley is destined to be very great, ere many years. 
Below are the names of its townships, in 1840, with their population 
at that time. 



ATHENS COUNTY. 


49 


Alexander, 
Ames, 
Athens, 
Bern, 
Brown, 
Canaan, 


1450 

1431 

1593 

381 

257 

800 


Carthage, 737 
Dover, 1297 
Elk, 

Lee, 

Lodi, 

Rome, 


1261 

848 

754 

866 


Trimble, 762 
Troy, 1056 
Vinton, 227 
Ward, 345 
Waterloo, 741 
York, 1601 


Population of Athens county, in 1820, was 6,342; in 1830, 9,778, 
and in 1840, 19,108, or 30 inhabitants to a square mile. 

In Evan’s map of the middle British colonies, published in 1755, 
there is placed on the left bank of the Hocking, somewhere in this 
region, a town, station or fort, named “ French Margarets .” Proba¬ 
bly Margarets creek, in this county, was named from it. In the 
county above, (Hocking,) have been found the remains of an old 
press, for packing furs and peltries, which are yet visible, and attest 
that French cupidity and enterprise had introduced an extensive 
trade among the Indians. 

Lord Dunmore, in his famous expedition against the Indian towns 
upon the Scioto, in the autumn of 1774—just prior to the commence¬ 
ment of the revolutionary war, descended the Ohio, and landed at 
the mouth of the Great Hockhocking, in this county. He was there 
during the bloody battle of Point Pleasant—on an air line 28 miles 
distant—between General Lewis and the Indians. At this place he 
established a depot and erected some defences, called Fort Gower, 
in honor of Earl Gower. From that point he marched up the valley 
of the river, encamping, tradition says, a night successively at Fed¬ 
eral creek, Sunday creek, and at the falls of the Hocking. From 
the last, he proceeded to the Scioto, where the detachment under 
General Lewis joined him, and the war was brought to a close by a 
treaty or truce with the hostile tribes. Dunmore, on his return, 
stopped at Fort Gower, where the officers passed a series of resolu¬ 
tions, for which, see Pickaway county, with other details of this 
expedition. 

Colonel Robert Paterson, one of the original proprietors of Cin¬ 
cinnati, with a party of Kentuckians, was attacked, near the mouth 
of the Hocking, by the Indians, two years after the erection of Fort 
Gower. The circumstances are given under the head of Mont¬ 
gomery county. 

Athens, the county seat, is situated on a commanding site on the 
Hockhocking river, 72 miles se. of Columbus. It contains 1 Pres¬ 
byterian, 1 Cumberland Presbyterian, and a Methodist church, a 
classical academy, 11 mercantile stores, and by the census of 1840, 
had 710 inhabitants. It was made the county seat in March, 
1805. The Ohio University, the oldest college in Ohio, is situated 
here, but has temporarily suspended its operations, for the purpose 
of recovering from pecuniary embarrassment. It was first chartered 
by the territorial government, and afterwards, in 1804, by the state 
legislature. It was early endowed by Congress with the two town¬ 
ships of Athens and Alexander, containing 46,000 acres of land, 
which, with the connecting resources, yield an annual income of 

7 


50 


ATHENS COUNTY. 


about $5000. The buildings are substantial and neat, and stand in a 
pleasant green. This institution has exerted a most beneficial influ¬ 
ence upon the morals and intelligence of this region. Among its 
graduates are many who do it honor, and it will, doubtless, when 



Ohio University, at Athens. 

again in successful operation—as it soon will be—continue its good 
work. 

This county was settled shortly after Wayne’s victory. The 
following named persons are recollected as settling in Athens and 
vicinity, two or three years subsequent to that event, viz: Solomon 
Tuttle, Christopher Stevens, Jonathan Watkins, Alvan and Silas 
Bingham, Henry and David Bartlett, John Chandler, and John and 
Moses Hewit. On Federal creek, also, were Nathan Woodbury, 
George Ewing—father of Hon. Thomas Ewing—Ephraim Cutler 
and Benjamin Brown. The first mill was erected about 1800, on 
Margarets creek, prior to which some of the settlers were accus¬ 
tomed to make tedious voyages, in canoes, down the Hocking, up 
the Ohio, and 4 miles up the Muskingum, above Marietta, to get 
their corn ground, while others, comprising a majority, depended 
upon hand mills and hommony blocks. 

The annexed vivid sketch of the captivity and escape of Moses 
Hewitt (one of the earliest settlers in this county) from the Indians, 
is from the history of the Bellville settlement, written by Dr. S. P. 
Hildreth, and published in the Hesperian, edited by William D. 
Gallagher. 

Moses Hewit was a native of New England, the land of active and enterprising men, 
and born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the year 1767. He removed to the waters of 
the Ohio, in 1790, in company with his uncle, Captain John Hewit, soon after the settle¬ 
ment of the Ohio Company; at the breaking out of the Indian war, he resided on the 
island now known by the name of “ Blennerhasset,” in the block house of Captain James, 
where he married a cousin, the daughter of Captain Hewit. After his marriage, he lived 
a short time at the mouth of the Little Kenawha, but as the Indians became dangerous, he 
joined the company of settlers at “ Neil’s station,” a short distance above, on the same 















ATHENS COUNTY. 51 

stream. At this period, all the settlements on both banks of the Ohio were broken up, 
and the inhabitants retired to their garrisons for mutual defence. 

The garrison at the middle settlement, in Belprie, was called “ Farmer’s Castle,” and 
was a strong stockaded defence, with comfortable dwelling houses erected along the margin 
of the stout palisades which surrounded it. It stood near the bank of the Ohio river, on 
the waters of which nearly all the intercourse between the stations was conducted in light 
canoes. At this garrison, Mr. He wit was a frequent visitor, but not an inmate. Some of 
the more fearless inhabitants, on the left bank, still continued to live in their own dwellings, 
considering themselves in a manner protected by the Ohio river, and by the vigilance of the 
“ spies,” who daily scoured the adjacent forests. Mr. Hewit was, at this time, in the prime 
of life and manhood ; possessed of a vigorous frame, nearly six feet high, with limbs of the 
finest mould, not surpassed by the Belvidere Apollo, for manly beauty. The hands and 
feet were small in proportion to the muscles of the arms and legs. Of their strength, some 
estimate may be formed, when it is stated that he could, with a single hand, lift with ease 
a large blacksmith’s anvil, by grasping the tapering horn which projects from its side. To 
this great muscular strength was added a quickness of motion, which gave to the dash ot 
his fist the rapidity of thought, as it was driven into the face or breast of his adversary. 
The eye was coal black, small and sunken, but when excited or enraged, flashed fire like 
that of the tiger. The face and head were well developed, with such powerful masseter 
and temporal muscles, that the fingers of the strongest man, when once confined between 
his teeth, could no more be withdrawn than from the jaws of a vice. 

With such physical powers, united to an unrefined and rather irritable mind, who shall 
wonder at his propensity for, and delight in, personal combat; especially' when placed in 
the midst of rude and unlettered companions, where courage and bodily strength were held 
in unlimited estimation. Accordingly, we find him engaged in numberless personal con¬ 
tests, in which he almost universally came off victorious. One instance of his activity and 
reckless daring took place at Marietta, about the year 1796. In some quarrel at a tavern, 
the vigor of his arm was laid so heavily upon one of his opponents, that serious apprehen¬ 
sions were felt for his life. Complaint was made to the magistrate, and a warrant issued 
for his apprehension. Of this he had timely notice, and not relishing the inside of a jail 
at that inclement season of the year, it being in February, he started for the river, intending 
to cross into Virginia, out of the jurisdiction of the constable. It so happened that the 
rains on the head waters had raised the river to half bank, and broken up the ice, which 
completely covered the stream with fragments of all dimensions, so closely arranged that 
no canoe could be forced through them. Although late in the night, there was yet the 
light of the moon, and rushing down the bank, with the constable and a numerous posse 
at his back, he leaped fearlessly on to the floating ice, and springing from fragment to 
fragment, with the activity of a fox, he reached the opposite shore in safety, about half a 
mile below the point where he commenced this perilous adventure. The constable, seeing 
the object of his pursuit afloat on the ice, came to a halt, concluding that, although he had 
escaped from the penalty of the law, he could not avoid the fate which awaited him, and 
that he would certainly be drowned before he could gain the shore. But, as fortune is said 
to favor the brave, he escaped without harm, and his life was preserved for wise and provi¬ 
dential purposes. 

Sometime in the month of May, 1792, while living at Neil’s station, on the Little Ken- 
awha, Mr. Hewit rose early in the morning and went out about a mile from the garrison 
in search of a stray horse, little expecting any Indians to be near, having heard of none in 
that vicinity for some time. He was sauntering along at his ease, in an obscure cattle 
path, thinking more of his stray animal than of danger, when all at once three Indians 
sprang from behind two large trees, that stood one on each side of the track, where they 
had been watching his approach. So sudden was the onset, and so completely was he in 
their grasp, that resistance was vain, and would probably have been the cause of his death. 
He therefore quietly surrendered, thinking that in a few days he should find some way of 
escape. For himself, he felt but little uneasiness; his great concerti was for his wife and 
child, from whom, with the yearnings of a father’s heart, he wa3 thus forcibly separated, 
and whom he might never see again. 

In their progress to the towns on the Sandusky plains, the Indians treated their prisoner, 
Hewit, with as little harshness as could be expected. He was always confined at night by 
fastening his wrists and ancles to saplings, as he lay extended upon his back upon the 
ground, with an Indian on each side. By day his limbs were free, but always marching 
with one Indian before, and two behind him. As they approached the prairies, frequent 
halts were made to search for honey, the wild bee being found in every hollow tree, and 
often in the ground beneath decayed roots, in astonishing numbers. This afforded them 


52 


ATHENS COUNTY. 


many luscious repasts, of which the prisoner was allowed to partake. The naturalization 
of the honey bee to the forests of North America, since its colonization by the whites, is, 
in fact, the only real addition to its comforts that the red man has ever received from the 
destroyer of his race ; and this industrious insect, so fond of the society of man, seems also 
destined to destruction by the bee-moth , and like the buffalo and the deer, will soon vanish 
from the woods and prairies of the West. 

While the Indians were occupied in these searches, Hewit closely watched an opportu¬ 
nity for escape, but his captors were equally vigilant. As they receded from the danger of 
pursuit, they became less hurried in their march, and often stopped to hunt and amuse them¬ 
selves. The level prairie afforded fine ground for one of their favorite sports, the foot race. 
In this, Hewit was invited to join, and soon found that he could easily outrun two of them, 
but the other was more than his match, which discouraged him from trying to escape, until 
a more favorable opportunity. They treated him familiarly, and were much pleased with 
his lively, cheerful manners. After they had reached within one or two day’s march of 
their village, they made a halt to hunt, and left their prisoner at their camp, although they 
had usually taken him with them, as he complained of being sick. To make all safe, they 
placed him on his back, confining his wrists with stout thongs of raw-hide to saplings, and 
his legs raised at a considerable elevation, to a small tree. After they had been gone a 
short time, he began to put in operation the plan he had been meditating for escape, trust¬ 
ing that the thickness of his wrists, in comparison with the smallness of his hands, would 
enable him to withdraw them from the ligatures. After long and violent exertions, he suc¬ 
ceeded in liberating his hands, but not without severely lacerating the skin and covering 
them with blood. His legs were next freed by untying them, but not without a great effort, 
from their elevation. 

Once fairly at liberty, the first object was to secure some food for the long journey which 
was before him. But as the Indian’s larder is seldom well stocked, with all his search, he 
could only find two small pieces of jerked venison, not more than sufficient for a single 
meal. With this light stock of provision, his body nearly naked, and without even a knife 
or a tomahawk, to assist in procuring more, he started for the settlements on the Musk¬ 
ingum, as the nearest point where he could meet with friends. It seems that the Indians 
returned to the camp soon after his escape, for that night while cautiously traversing a 
wood, he heard the cracking of a breaking twig not far from him. Dropping silently on 
to the ground where he stood, he beheld his three enemies in pursuit. To say that he was 
not agitated, would not be true ; his senses were wide awake, and his heart beat quick, but 
it was a heart that never knew fear. It so happened that they passed a few yards to one 
side of him, and he remained unseen. As soon as they were at a sufficient distance, he 
altered his course and saw no more of them. 

Suffering every thing but death, from the exhausting effects of hunger and fatigue, he, 
after nine days, struck the waters of the Big Muskingum, and came in to the garrison, at 
Wolf creek mills. During this time he had no food but roots and the bark of the slippery - 
elm, after the two bits of venison were expended. When he came in sight of the station, 
he was so completely exhausted that he could not stand or halloo. His body was entirely 
naked, excepting a small strip of cloth round the loins, and so tom, bloody and disfigured, 
by the briers and brush, that he thought it imprudent to show himself, lest he should be’ 
taken for an Indian, and shot by the centries. It is a curious physiological fact, that fam¬ 
ine and hunger will actually darken the skin in the manner mentioned by the prophet Jer¬ 
emiah, when foretelling the fate of the Israelites ; and may be accounted for by the ab¬ 
sorption of the bile into the blood, when not used up in the process of digesting the food. 
In this forlorn state, Hewit remained until evening, when he crawled silently to the gate¬ 
way, which was open, and crept in before any one was aware of his being near. As they 
all had heard of his capture, and some personally knew him, he was instantly recognized 
by a young man, as the light of the fire fell on his face, who exclaimed, “ here is Hewit.” 
They soon clothed and fed him, and his fine constitution directly restored his health. 

The course pursued by Mr. Hewit was in the direction of a favorite and well known 
trail, or war path of the Indians, from Sandusky to the settlements on the Muskingum, 
and struck that river at a point called “ Big Rock,” from an enormous block of sandstone 
that had tumbled out of a cliff and lay on the shore. The line of the trail lay between the 
waters of the Muskingum and those of the Scioto, crossing some of the branches of both 
these rivers. The war paths of the Indians were generally known to the old hunters, as 
in times ol peace there was considerable intercourse for trade and hunting between the 
borderers and the Indian tribes. After the war was closed, by the masterly campaign of 
Gen. Wayne, the sturdy settlers on the shores of the Ohio, sallied out from their garrisons, 
where they had been more or less closely confined for five years, and took possession of the 


ATHENS COUNTY, 


53 


various farms, which had fallen to their lots either as “ donation lands,” or as proprietors in 
the Ohio Company, some of which had been partially cleared and cultivated before the 
commencement of hostilities. During this period, they suffered from famine, sickness, and 
death, in addition to the depredations of the Indians. The small-pox and putrid sore 
throat, had both visited them in their garrisons, destroying, in some instances, whole fami¬ 
lies of children in a few days. The murderous savage without, with sickness and famine 
within, had made their castles wearisome dwelling places, although they protected them 
from the tomahawk, and saved the settlements from being entirely broken up. 

In the year 1797, Mr. Hewit cast his lot in the valley of the Hockhocking river, near 
the town of Athens, and settled quietly down to clearing his farm. He was by nature en¬ 
dowed with a clear, discriminating, and vigorous mind ; and, although his education was 
very limited, extending only to reading and writing, yet his judgment was acute, and Ins 
reasoning powers highly matured by intercourse with his fellow-men. For some years 
before his death, he was a member of the Methodist church, which has the praise of re¬ 
claiming more depraved men than perhaps any other sect, and became a valuable citizen 
and useful man in society. A short time previous to his decease, which took place in the 
year lSl'jUjie was appointed a Trustee of the Ohio University, at Athens. At that early 
time, the nuties of a Trustee mainly consisted in leasing out and managing the fiscal af¬ 
fairs of the college domain, embracing two townships of land. For this business he was 
well fitted, and his judgment and good sense, were of real value to the institution, however 
little he might be qualified to act in literary matters. 

The life of Mr. Hewit affords an interesting subject of contemplation. Hundreds of 
others, who were among the western borderers in early days, afford similar examples of 
reckless daring, and outrageous acts, while surrounded with war, tumult and danger, who, 
when peace was restored and they returned to the quiet scenes of domestic and civil life, 
became some of the most useful, influential, and distinguished men. It shows how much 
man is the creature of habit; and that he is often governed more by the character, and the 
outward example of men around him, and the times in which he lives, than by any innate 
principle of good or evil, which may happen to predominate within him. 

About four miles north of Athens, are mounds and ancient forti¬ 
fications with gateways. One of the mounds which was composed 
of a kind of stone, differing from any in the vicinity, was taken for 
the construction of a dam across the Hocking ; there were in it over 
a thousand perches, and some of the stones weighed two hundred 
pounds. In the mound were found copper rings and other relics. 
There are many mounds in some other parts of the county. 

Dr. S. P. Hildreth, of Marietta, a gentleman of well-known sci¬ 
entific attainments, thus speaks in Silliman’s Journal of the fossil re¬ 
mains in this region. 

The sandstone rocks contain many relics of fossil trees, of that ancient and curious fam¬ 
ily, bearing those rare devices and figures on their bark, so artificial in their appearance as 
to induce a common belief among the ignorant, of their being the work of man before 
the flood, and buried by that catastrophe in huge heaps of sand, since consolidated into 
rock. The excavations in sandstone rocks have been, as yet, so few and partial, that but 
a small number have been brought to light, although the strata through this valley are one 
vast cemetery of the plants of a former creation. I have seen some specimens found in 
quarrying stones for a cellar, or in grading a road, and have heard of many more, proving 
that there is an abundant supply laid up for future geologists, when tne country becomes 
more cultivated, and extensive openings shall be made in the earth. On the heads of 
Shade river, a few miles sw. of Athens, there is a large deposit of fossil trees, the wood 
being replaced by a dark ferruginous silex. 

The yellow pine is very abundant in the lower part of the Hock¬ 
ing valley, and was probably at no very remote period, the prevail¬ 
ing growth of this part of the country. On this point, Dr. Hildreth 
also gives the following interesting facts. 

Extensive districts in which a pine is not now found, are thickly scattered with pitch 
pine knots, lying on the surface, the relics of former forests, which some disease, or pro- 


54 


BELMONT COUNTY. 


bably the depredations of insects, had destroyed. In these situations large quantities of 
pitch and tar were formerly made. In numerous mounds, opened under my direction, the 
charcoal found about the human bones, which they almost universally contain, and which 
the aborigines first burned before casting up the mound of earth and stone, as a sacred 
monument for the dead, is most generally the charcoal of pine wood—leading also to the 
conclusion, that at their erection, yellow pine was the prevailing tree of the forest, for it is 
not probable they would take the trouble of bringing it from any distance. 

By the United States Statistics it appears there were 92,800 
bushels of salt produced in the county, and 47 men employed in 
the manufacture, in 1840. This has since increased. The princi¬ 
pal salt wells now in the county, are those of Ewing, Vinton & 
Co., Fuller & Walker, and Samuel Denmans, at Chauncey ; Hydes, 
Perkins & Prudens, near Athens. 

Nelsonville, on the Hocking canal, 13 miles above Athens, is a 
flourishing village, in the heart of the coal region and tride, and 
contains about 300 people: considerable tobacco is packed here. 
Chauncey, also on the canal 7 miles above Athens, is a village of 
about 200 inhabitants, where the manufacture of salt is extensively 
carried on, together with coal mining; at one mine the coal is ob¬ 
tained by sinking a shaft 120 feet perpendicular. M’Arthurstown, 
26 miles wsw. of Athens, has about 250 people, and is in a good 
country. Hockingport, at the mouth of the Hocking, Hocking City, 
Amesville, Hebardsville, Albany, Millfield, Chesterfield, Savannah 
and Trimble, are small places. 


BELMONT. 


Belmont was established, September 7th, 1801, by proclamation 
of Gov. St. Clair, being the ninth county formed in the N. W. Terri¬ 
tory. The name is derived from two French words, signifying a 
fine mountain. It is a hilly and picturesque tract, and contains 
much excellent land. The principal crops are wheat, oats, Indian 
corn and tobacco, of which last, about two million pounds are annu¬ 
ally raised. It has about 68,000 sheep, and coal abounds. The fol¬ 
lowing are the names of its townships in 1840, with their population. 


1389 

Pultney, 

1747 

Warren, 

2410 

1683 

Richland, 

3735 

Washington, 

1388 

1882 

Smith, 

1956 

Wayne, 

Wheeling, 

1734 

2280 

Somerset, 

1932 

1389 

1496 

2449 

Union, 

2127 

York, 

1294 


Colerain, 

Flushing, 

Goshen, 

Kirkwood, 

Mead, 

Pease, 

Population of Belmont county in 1820, 20,329; in 1830, 28,543 ; 
in 1840, 27,225, or 51 inhabitants to a square mile. 

Belmont county was one of the earliest settled within the State of 
Ohio, and the scene of several desperate encounters with the In¬ 
dians. About 1790, or perhaps two or three years later, a fort 
called Dillie’s fort was erected on the west side of the Ohio, oppo¬ 
site Grave creek. 



BELMONT COUNTY. 


55 


About 250 yards below this fort, an old man named Tate was 
shot down by the Indians very early in the morning, as he was 
opening his door. His daughter-in-law and grandson pulled him in 
and barred the door. The Indians endeavoring to force it open, 
were kept out for some time by the exertions of the boy and woman. 
They at length fired through and wounded the boy. The woman 
was shot from the outside as she endeavored to escape up chimney, 
and fell into the fire. The boy, who had hid behind some barrels, 
ran and pulled her out, and returned again to his hiding place. The 
Indians now effected an entrance, killed a girl as they came in, and 
scalped the three they had shot. They then went out behind that 
side of the house from the fort. The boy, who had been wounded 
in the nmuth, embraced the opportunity, and escaped to the fort. 
The Inaians, twelve or thirteen in number, went off unmolested, 
although the men in the fort had witnessed the transaction and 
had sufficient force to engage with them. 

Captina creek is a considerable stream entering the Ohio, near 
the southeast angle of Belmont. On its banks at an early day, a 
sanguinary contest took place known as “ the battle of Captina” Its 
incidents have often and variously been given. We here relate 
them as they fell from the lips of Martin Baker, of Monroe, who 
was at that time a lad of about 12 years of age in Baker’s fort. 

One mile below the mouth of Captina, on the Virginia shore, was 
Baker’s fort, so named from my father. One morning, in May, 1794, 
four men were sent over according to the custom, to the Ohio 
side, to reconnoitre. They were Adam Miller, John Daniels, Isaac 
M’Cowan, and John Shoptaw. Miller and Daniels took up stream, 
the other two down. The upper scout were soon attacked by In¬ 
dians, and Miller killed; Daniels ran up Captina about 3 miles, but 
being weak from the loss of blood issuing from a wound in his arm, 
was taken prisoner, carried into captivity, and subsequently released 
at the treaty of Greenville. The lower scout having discovered 
signs of the enemy, Shoptaw swam across the Ohio and escaped, 
but M’Gowan going up towards the canoe, was shot by Indians in 
ambush. Upon this, he ran down to the bank, and sprang into 
the water, pursued by the enemy, who overtook and scalped him. 
The firing being heard at the fort, they beat up for volunteers. 
There were about fifty men in the fort. There being much reluc¬ 
tance among them to volunteer, my sister exclaimed, “ She wouldn't 
be a coward .” This aroused the pride of my brother, John Ba¬ 
ker, who before had determined not to go. He joined the others, 
14 in number, including Capt. Abram Enochs. They soon crossed 
the river, and went up Captina in single file, a distance of a mile 
and a half, following the Indian trail. The enemy had come back 
on their trails and were in ambush on the hill side awaiting their 
approach. When sufficiently near they fired upon our people, 
but being on an elevated position, their balls passed harmless over 
them. The whites then treed. Some of the Indians came behind 
and shot Capt. Enochs and Mr. Hoffman. Our people soon re- 


56 


BELMONT COUNTY. 


treated, and the Indians pursued but a short distance. On their 
retreat my brother was shot in the hip. Determined to sell his life 
as dearly as possible, he drew off one side and secreted himself in 
a hollow with a rock at his back, offering no chance for the enemy^ 
to approach but in front. Shortly after, two guns were heard in 
quick succession ; doubtless one of them was fired by my brother, 
and from the signs afterwards, it was supposed he had killed an 
Indian. The next day the men turned out and visited the spot. 
Enochs, Hoffman and John Baker, were found dead and scalped. 
Enoch’s bowels were torn out, his eyes and those of Hoffman 
screwed out with a wiping stick. The dead were wrapped in white 
hickory bark, and brought over to the Virginia shore, and buried 
in their bark coffins. There were about thirty Indians empged in 
this action, and seven skeletons of their slain were found lahg after 
secreted in the crevices of rocks. 

M’Donald, in his biographical sketch of Gov. M’Arthur, who was 
in the action, says, that after the death of Capt. Enochs, that M’Ar¬ 
thur, although the youngest man in the company, was unanimously 
called upon to direct the retreat. The wounded who were able to 
walk were placed in front, while M’Arthur with his Spartan Band 
covered the retreat. The moment an Indian showed himself in 
pursuit, he was fired upon, and generally it is believed with effect. 
The Indians were so severely handled, that they gave up the pur¬ 
suit. The Indians were commanded by the Shawnee Chief, Char¬ 
ley Wilkey. He told the author [M’Donald] of this narrative, that 
the battle of Captina was the most severe conflict he ever witnessed ; 
that although he had the advantage of the ground and the first fire, 
he lost the most of his men, half of them having been either killed 
or wounded. 

The celebrated Indian hunter, Lewis Wetzel, was often through 
this region. Belmont has been the scene of at least two of the da¬ 
ring adventures of this far-famed borderer. 

While hunting, Wetzel fell in with a young hunter who lived on Dunkard’s creek, and 
was persuaded to accompany him to his home. On their arrival they found the house in 
ruins and all the family murdered, except a young woman who had been bred with 
them, and to whom the young man was ardently attached. She was taken alive, as was 
found by examining the trail of the enemy, who were three Indians and a white renegado. 
Burning with revenge, they followed the trail until opposite the mouth of Captina, where the 
enemy had crossed. They swam the stream and discovered the Indians camp, around the 
fires of which lay the enemy in careless repose. The young woman was apparently un¬ 
hurt, but was making much moaning and lamentation. The young man, hardly able to re¬ 
strain his rage, was for firing and rushing instantly upon them. Wetzel, more cautious, told 
him to wait until day light when there was a better chance of success in killing the whole 
party. At dawn the Indians prepared to depart. The young man selecting the white rene¬ 
gado, and Wetzel the Indian, they both fired simultaneously with fatal effect. The young 
man rushed forward knife in hand to relieve the mistress of his affections, while Wetzel 
reloaded and pursued the two surviving Indians, who had taken to the woods until they could 
ascertain the number of their enemies. Wetzel, as soon as he was discovered, discharged 
his rifle at random in order to draw them from their covert. The ruse took effect, and 
taking to his heels he loaded as he ran, and suddenly wheeling about discharged his rifle 
through the body of his nearest and unsuspecting enemy. The remaining Indian seeing 
the fate of his companion, and that his enemy’s rifle was unloaded, rushed forward with 
all energy, the prospect of prompt revenge being fairly before him. Wetzel led him on 


BELMONT COUNTY, 


57 


dodging from tree to tree, until his rifle was again ready, when suddenly turning he fired, 
and his remaining enemy fell dead at his feet. After taking their scalps, Wetzel and his 
friend, with their rescued captive, returned in safety to the settlement. 

A short time after Crawford’s defeat, in 1782, Wetzel accompanied Thomas Mills, a 
eoldier in that action, to obtain his horse, which he had left near the site of St. Clairsville. 
They were met by a party of about forty Indians, at the Indian springs, two miles from St. 
Clairsville, on the road to Wheeling. Both parties discovered each other at the same mo¬ 
ment, when Lewis instantly fired and killed an Indian, while the Indians wpunded his 
companion in the heel, overtook and killed him. Four Indians pursued Wetzel. About 
half a mile beyond, one of the Indians having got, in the pursuit, within a few steps, Wet¬ 
zel wheeled and shot him, and then continued the retreat. In less than a mile farther, a 
second one came so close to him that, as he turned to fire, he caught the muzzle of his gun, 
when, after a severe struggle, Wetzel brought it to his chest, and discharging it, his opponent 
fell dead. Wetzel still continued on his course, pursued by the two Indians. All three 
were pretty well fatigued, and often stopped and treed. After going something more than 
a mile, Wetzel took advantage of an open ground, over which the Indians were passing, 
stopped suddenly to shoot the foremost, who thereupon sprang behind a small sapling. 
Wetzel fired and wounded him mortally. The remaining Indian then gave a little yell, 
exclaiming, “ No catch that man, gun always loaded.” After the peace of 1795, Wetzel 
pushed for the frontier, on the Mississippi, where he could trap the beaver, hunt the buffalo 
and deer, and occasionally shoot an Indian, the object of his mortal hatred. He finally 
died, as he had lived, a free man of the forest. 



St. Clairsville. 

St. Clairsville, the county seat, is situated on an elevated and 
romantic site, in a rich agricultural region, on the line of the National 
road, 11 miles west of Wheeling, and 116 east of Columbus. It 
contains 6 places for public worship: 2 Friends, 1 Presbyterian, 1 
Episcopal, 1 Methodist, and 1 Union, 1 female seminary, 12 mer¬ 
cantile stores, 2 or 3 newspaper offices, H. Anderson’s map engrav¬ 
ing and publishing establishment, and, in 1840, had 829 inhabitants. 
Cuming’s tour, published in 1810, states that this town “was laid 
out in the woods, by David Newell, in 1801. On the south side of 
Newell’s plat, is an additional part, laid out by William Matthews, 
which was incorporated with Newell’s plat, on the 23d January, 
1807, by the name of St. Clairsville.” By the act of incorporation, 
the following officers were appointed until the first stated meeting 
of the inhabitants should be held for an election, viz. John Patterson, 








SB 


BELMONT COUNTY. 


President; Sterling Johnston, Recorder; Samuel Sullivan, Marshall,* 
Groves Wm. Brown, John Brown, and Josiah Dillon, Trustees; 
William Congliton, Collector; James Colwell, Treasurer, and 
Robert Griffeth, Town Marshall. The view given was taken from 
an elevation west of the town, near the National road, and Neis- 
wanger’s old tavern, shown on the extreme right. The building in 
the distance, on the left, shaded by poplars, is the Friend’s meeting 
house; in the centre is shown the spire of the court house, and on 
the right, the tower of the Presbyterian church. 

St. Clairsville derives its name from the unfortunate but meri¬ 
torious Arthur St. Clair. He was born in Scotland, in 1734, and 
after receiving a classical education in one of the most celebrated 
universities of his native country, studied medicine; but having a 
taste for military pursuits, he sought and obtained a subaltern’s 
appointment, and was with Wolfe in the storming of Quebec. 
After the peace of 1763, he was assigned the command of Fort 
Ligonier, in Pennsylvania, and received there a grant of one thousand 
acres. Prior to the revolutionary war, he held several civil offices. 
His military skill and experience, intelligence and integrity were 
such, that when the revolutionary war commenced, he was ap¬ 
pointed Colonel of Continentals. In August, 1776, he was promoted 
to the rank of Brigadier, and bore an active part in the battles of 
Trenton and Princeton. He was subsequently created a Major 
General, and ordered to repair to Ticonderoga, where he commanded 
the garrison, and on the approach of Burgoyne’s army, abandoned 
it. Charges of cowardice, incapacity and treachery were brought 
against him, in consequence. He was tried by a court martial, who, 
with all the facts before them, acquitted him, accompanying their 
report with the declaration, that “ Major General St. Clair is ac¬ 
quitted, with the highest honor, of the charges against him.” Con¬ 
gress subsequently, with an unanimous voice, confirmed this sen¬ 
tence. The facts were, that the works were incomplete and inca¬ 
pable of being defended against the whole British army, and although 
St. Clair might have gained great applause by a brave attempt at 
defence, yet it would have resulted in the death of many of his 
men, and probably the capture of the remainder; a loss which, it 
was afterwards believed in camp, and perhaps foreseen by St. Clair, 
would have prevented the taking of Burgoyne’s army. In daring 
to do an unpopular act, for the public good, St. Clair exhibited a 
high degree of moral courage, and deserves more honor than he 
who wins a battle. 

St. Clair served, with reputation, until the close of the war. In 
1785, while residing on his farm, at Ligonier, he was appointed a 
delegate to the Continental Congress, and was soon after chosen 
President of that august body. After the passage of the ordinance 
for the government of the North-western territory, he was chosen 
governor, and continued in the office until within a few weeks of 
the termination of the territorial form of government, in the winter 
of 1802-3, when he was removed by President Jefferson. 


BELMONT COUNTY. 


59 


The remainder of the sketch of Gov. St. Clair, we give in ex¬ 
tracts from the Notes of Judge Burnet, who was personally ac¬ 
quainted with him. Beside being clearly and beautifully written, 
it contains important facts in the legislative history of Ohio. 

During the continuance of the first grade of that imperfect government, he enjoyed the 
respect and confidence of every class of the people. He was plain and simple in his dress 
and equipage, open and frank in his manners, and accessible to persons of every rank. In 
these respects, he exhibited a striking contrast with the Secretary, Colonel Sargent; and 
that contrast, in some measure, increased his popularity, which he retained, unimpaired, 
till after the commencement of the first session of the legislature. During that session, he 
manifested a strong desire to enlarge his own powers, and restrict those of the Assembly; 
which was the more noticed, as he had opposed the usurpations of the legislative council, 
composed of himself, or in his absence, the Secretary, and the Judges of the General 
Court; and had taken an early opportunity of submitting his views on that subject to the 
General Assembly. 

The effect of the construction he gave, of his own powers, may be seen in the fact, 
that of the thirty bills, passed by the two Houses, during the first session, and sent to him 
for his approval, he refused his assent to eleven; some of which were supposed to be of 
much importance, and all of them calculated, more or less, to advance the public interest. 
Some of them he rejected, because they related to the establishment of new counties; 
others, because he thought they were unnecessary or inexpedient. Thus more than a third 
of the fruits of the labor of that entire session was lost, by the exercise of the arbitrary 
discretion of one man. 

This, and some other occurrences of a similar character, which were manifest deviations 
from his usual course, not easily accounted for, multiplied his opponents very rapidly, and 
rendered it more difficult for his friends to defend and sustain him. They also created a 
state of bad feeling between the legislative and executive branches, and eventually termi¬ 
nated in his removal from office, before the expiration of the territorial government. 

The governor was unquestionably a man of superior talents, of extensive information, 
and of great uprightness of purpose, as well as suavity of manners. His general course, 
though in the main correct, was in some respects injurious to his own popularity ; but it 
was the result of an honest exercise of his judgment. He not only believed that the 
power he claimed belonged legitimately to the executive, but was convinced that the man¬ 
ner in which he exercised it, was imposed on him as a duty, by the Ordinance ; and was 
calculated to advance the best interests of the territory. 

Soon after the governor was removed from office, he returned to the Legonier valley, 
poor, and destitute of the means of subsistence ; and unfortunately, too much disabled, 
by age and infirmity, to embark in any kind of active business. During his admin¬ 
istration of the territorial government, he was induced to make himself personally 
liable for the purchase of a number of pack-horses and other articles necessary to fit out 
an expedition against the Indians, to an amount of some two or three thousand dollars, 
which he was afterwards compelled to pay. Having no use for the money at the time, he 
did not present his claim to the government. After he was removed from office, he looked 
to that fund as his dependence for future subsistence; and, under a full expectation of 
receiving it, he repaired to Washington City, and presented his account to the proper offi¬ 
cer of the treasury. To his utter surprise and disappointment, it was rejected, on the 
mortifying ground, that, admitting it to have been originally correct, it was barred by the 
statute ; and that the time which had elapsed, afforded the highest presumption that it had 
been settled, although no voucher or memorandum to that effect could be found in the 
department. To counteract the alledged presumption of payment, the original vouchers, 
showing the purchase, the purpose to which the property was applied, and the payment of 
the money, were exhibited. It was, however, still insisted, that ns the transaction was an 
old one, and had taken place before the burning of the war office, in Philadelphia, the 
lapse of time furnished satisfactory evidence that the claim must have been settled, and 
the vouchers destroyed in that conflagration. 

The pride of the old veteran was deeply wounded, by the ground on which his claim 
was refused; and he was induced, from that consideration, as well as by the pressure of 
poverty and want, to persevere in his efforts to maintain the justice and equity of his 
demand ; still hoping that presumption would give way to truth. For the purpose of 
getting rid of his solicitations, Congress passed an act, purporting to be an act for his 
relief; but which merely removed the technical objection, founded on lapse of time, by 
authorizing a settlement of hia demands, regardless of the limitation. This step seemed 


60 


BELMONT COUNTY. 


necessary, to preserve their own character; but it left the worn out veteran still at the 
mercy of the accounting officers of the department, from whom he had nothing to expect, 
but disappointment. During the same session, a bill was introduced into the House of 
Representatives, granting him an annnuity, which was rejected, on the third reading, by a 
vote of 48 to 50. 

After spending the principal part of two sessions, in useless efforts, subsisting, during the 
time, on the bounty of his friends, he abandoned the pursuit in despair, and returned to the 
Legonier valley, where he lived several years in the most abject poverty, in the family of a 
widowed daughter, as destitute as himself. At length, Pennsylvania, his adopted state, 
from considerations of personal respect, and gratitude for past services, as well as from a 
laudable feeling of state pride, settled on him an annuity of three hundred dollars, which 
was soon after raised to six hundred and fifty dollars. That act of beneficence gave to 
the gallant old soldier a comfortable subsistence for the little remnant of his days which 
then remained. The honor resulting to the state, from that step, was very much enhanced, 
by the fact, that the individual on whom their bounty was bestowed, was a foreigner, and 
was known to be a warm opponent, in politics, to the great majority of the legislature and 
their constituents. 

He lived, however, but a short time to enjoy the bounty. On the 31st of August, 1818, 
that venerable officer of the Revolution, after a long, brilliant and useful life, died of an 
injury occasioned by the running away of his horse, near Greensburgh, in the eighty-fourth 
year of his age. 

Bridgeport, on the west bank of the Ohio, opposite the city of 
Wheeling, and on the National road, is an important point for the 
forwarding goods to the West. It contains 1 church, 1 grist and 1 
saw mill, 3 stores, 3 forwarding and commission houses, and had, in 
1840, 329 inhabitants. 

In the spring of 1791, the cabin of Captain Joseph Kirkwood, at 
this place, was attacked at night by a party of Indians, who, after a 
severe action, were repulsed. This Captain Kirkwood “ was the 
gallant and unrewarded Captain Kirkwood, of the Delaware line, 
in the war of the revolution, to whom such frequent and honorable' 
allusion is made in Lee’s memoir of the Southern campaigns. The 
state of Delaware had but one continental regiment, which, at the 
defeat at Camden, was reduced to a single company. It was there¬ 
fore impossible, under the rules, for Kirkwood to be promoted ; and 
he was under the mortification of beholding inferior officers in the 
regiments of other states, promoted over him, while he, with all his 
merit, was compelled to remain a captain, solely in consequence of 
the small force Delaware was enabled to maintain in the service. 
He fought with distinguished gallantry through the war, and was in 
the bloody battles of Camden, Holkirks, Eutaw and Ninety Six.” 

Captain Kirkwood moved to this place in 1789, and built his cabin 
on the knoll, about thirty yards west of the present residence of Mr. 
M’Swords. At the time of the attack on the cabin, there was an 
unfinished block-house standing on the highest part of the knoll, 
only a few yards distant. On the night of the attack, a party of 
fourteen soldiers, under the command of Captain Joseph Biggs, 
together with Captain Kirkwood and family, were in the cabin! 
About two hours before day break, the captain’s little son Joseph, 
had occasion to leave the cabin for a few moments, and requested 
Captain Biggs to accompany him. They were out but a few min¬ 
utes, and although unknown to them, were surrounded by Indians. 
They had returned, and again retired to sleep in the upper loft. 


BELMONT COUNTY. 


G1 


when they soon discovered the roof in a blaze, which was the first 
intimation they had of the presence of an enemy. Captain K. was 
instantly awakened, when he and his men commenced pushing off 
the roof, the Indians at the same time firing upon them, from under 
cover of the block-house. Captain Biggs, on the first alarm, ran 
down the ladder into the room below, to get his rifle, when a ball 
entered a window and wounded him in the wrist. Soon the Indians 
had surrounded the house, and attempted to break in the door with 
their tomahawks. Those within braced it with puncheons from the 
floor. In the panic of the moment, several of the men wished to 
escape from the cabin, but Captain K. silenced them with the threat 
of taking the life of the first man who made the attempt, asserting 
that the Indians would tomahawk them as fast as they left. The 
people of Wheeling—one mile distant—hearing the noise of the 
attack, fired a swivel, to encourage the defenders, although fearful of 
coming to the rescue. This enraged the Indians the more; they 
sent forth terrific yells, and brought brush, piled it around the cabin, 
and set it on fire. Those within, in a measure smothered the flames, 
first with the water and milk in the house, and then with damp 
earth, from the floor of the cabin. The fight was kept up about 
two hours, until dawn, when the Indians retreated. Had they at¬ 
tacked earlier, success would have resulted. The loss of the In¬ 
dians, or their number, was unknown—only one was seen. He was 
in the act of climbing up the corner of the cabin, when he was 
discovered, let go his hold and fell. Seven of those within were 
wounded, and one, a Mr. Walker, mortally. He was a brave man. 
As he lay, disabled and helpless, on his back, on the earth, he called 
out to the Indians, in a taunting manner. He died in a few hours, 
and was buried the next day, at Wheeling, with military honors. 
A party of men, under Gen. Benjamin Biggs, of West Liberty, 
went in pursuit of the Indians, but without success. A niece of 
Captain Kirkwood, during the attack, was on a visit about twenty 
miles distant, on Buffalo creek. In the night, she dreamed that the 
cabin was attacked, and heard the guns. So strong an impression 
did it make, that she arose and rode down with all her speed to 
Wheeling, where she arrived two hours after sunrise. 

After this affair, Captain Kirkwood moved with his family to 
Newark, Delaware. On his route, he met with some of St. Clair’s 
troops, then on their way to Cincinnati. Exasperated at the Indians, 
for their attack upon his house, he accepted the command of a com¬ 
pany of Delaware troops, was with them at the defeat of St. Clair, 
in the November following, “ where he fell, in a brave attempt to 
repel the enemy with the bayonet, and thus closed a career as hon¬ 
orable as it was unrewarded.” 

Elizabeth Zane, who acted with so much heroism at the siege of 
Wheeling, in 1782, lived many years since about two miles above 
Bridgeport, on the Ohio side of the river, near Martinsville. She 
was twice married, first to Mr. M’Laughlin, and secondly to Mr. 
Clark. The anecdote we derive from a published source. 


62 


BELMONT COUNTY. 


When Lynn, the ranger, gave the alarm that an Indian army was approaching, the fort 
having been for some time unoccupied by a garrison, and Colonel Zane’s house having been 
used for a magazine, those who retired into the fortress had to take with them a supply of 
ammunition for its defence. The supply of powder, deemed ample at the time, was now 
almost exhausted, by reason of the long continuance of the siege, and the repeated en¬ 
deavors of the savages to take the fort by storm: a few rounds only remained. In this 
emergency, it became necessary to renew their stock from an abundant store which was 
deposited in Colonel Zane’s house. Accordingly, it was proposed that one of the fleetest 
men should endeavor to reach the house, obtain a supply of powder, and return with it to 
the fort. It was an enterprise full of danger; but many of the heroic spirits shut up in 
the fort were willing to encounter the hazard. Among those who volunteered to go on 
this enterprise, was Elizabeth, the sister of Colonel E. Zane. She was young, active and 
athletic, with courage to dare the danger, and fortitude to sustain her through it. Dis¬ 
daining to weigh the hazard of her own life against that of others, when told that a man 
would encounter less danger by reason of his greater fleetness, she replied, “ and should he 
fall, his loss will be more severely felt; you have not one man to spare ; a woman will not 
be missed in the defence of the fort.” Her services were then accepted. Divesting herself 
of some of her garments, as tending to impede her progress, she stood prepared for the 
hazardous adventure ; and when the gate was thrown open, bounded forth with the buoy¬ 
ancy of hope, and in the confidence of success. Wrapt in amazement, the Indians beheld 
her springing forward, and only exclaiming, “ a squaw,” “ a squaw,” no attempt was 
made to interrupt her progress: arrived at the door, she proclaimed her errand. Colonel 
Silas Zane fastened a table cloth around her waist, and emptying into it a keg of powder, 
again she ventured forth. The Indians were no longer passive. Ball after ball whizzed 
by, several of which passed through her clothes: she reached the gate, and entered the fort 
in safety; and thus was the garrison again saved by female intrepidity. This heroine had 
but recently returned from Philadelphia, where she had received her education, and was 
wholly unused to such scenes as were daily passing on the frontiers. The distance she 
had to run was about forty yards. 

Among the best sketches of backwoods life, is that written by Mr. 
John S. Williams, editor of the American Pioneer, and published 
in it in October, 1843. In the spring of 1800, his father’s family re¬ 
moved from Carolina and settled with others on Glenn’s run, about 
six miles northeast of St. Clairsville. He was then a lad, as he re¬ 
lates, of seventy five pounds weight. From his sketch, “ Our Cabin ; 
or Life in the Woods,” we make some extracts. 

Emigrants poured in from different parts, cabins were put up in every direction, and wo¬ 
men, children and goods tumbled into them. The tide of emigration flowed like water 
through a breach in a mill-dam. Every thing was bustle and confusion, and all at work 
that could work. In the midst of all this, the mumps, and perhaps one or two other dis¬ 
eases, prevailed and gave us a seasoning. Our cabin had been raised, covered, part of 
the cracks chinked, and part of the floor laid when we moved in, on Christmas day! 
There had not been a stick cut except in building the cabin. We had intended an inside 
chimney, for we thought the chimney ought to be in the house. We had a log put across 
the whole width of the cabin for a mantel, but when the floor was in we found it so low as 
not to answer, and removed it. Here was a great change for my mother and sister, as well 
as the rest, but particularly my mother. She was raised in the most delicate manner in and 
near London, and lived most of her time in affluence, and always comfortable. She was 
now in the wilderness, surrounded by wild beasts; in a cabin with about half a floor, no 
door, no ceiling over head, not even a tolerable sign for a fireplace, the light of day and the 
chilling winds of night passing between every two logs in the building, the cabin so high 
from the ground that a bear, wolf, panther, or any other animal less in size than a cow, 
could enter without even a squeeze. Such was our situation on Thursday and Thursday 
night, December 25th, 1800, and which was bettered but by very slow degrees. We got 
the rest of the floor laid in a very few days, the chinking of the cracks went on slowly, 
but the daubing could not proceed till weather more suitable, which happened in a few 
days ; door-ways were sawed out and steps made of the logs, and the back of the chimney 
was raised up to the mantel, but the funnel of sticks and clay was delayed until spring. . . 

Our family consisted of my mother, a sister, of twenty-two, my brother, near twenty-one 
and very weakly, and myself, in my eleventh year. Two years afterwards, Black Jenny 


BELMONT COUNTY. 


63 


followed us in company with my half-brother, Richard, and his family. She lived two 
years with us in Ohio, and died in the winter of 1803-4. 

In building our cabin it was set to front the north and south, my brother using my father’s 
pocket compass on the occasion. We had no idea of living in a house that did not stand 



Our Cabin; or Life in the Woods. 

square with the earth itself. This argued our ignorance of the comforts and conveniencies of 
a pioneer life. The position of the house, end to the hill, necessarily elevated the lower 
end, and the determination of having both a north and south door, added much to the airi¬ 
ness of the domicil, particularly after the green ash puncheons had shrunk so as to have 
cracks in the floor and doors from one to two inches wide. At both the doors we had high, 
unsteady, and sometimes icy steps, made by piling up the logs cut out of the wall. We 
had, as the reader will see, a window, if it could be called a window, when, perhaps, it 
was the largest spot in the top, bottom, or sides of the cabin at which the wind could not 
enter. It was made by sawing out a log, placing sticks across, and then, by pasting an old 
newspaper over the hole, and applying some hog’s lard, we had a kind of glazing which 
shed a most beautiful and mellow light across the cabin when the sun shone on it. All 
other light entered at the doors, cracks and chimney. 

Our cabin was twenty four by eighteen. The west end was occupied by two beds, the 
center of each side by a door, and here our symmetry had to stop, for on the opposite side of 
the window, made of clapboards, supported on pins driven into the logs, were our shelves. 
Upon these shelves my sister displayed in ample order, a host of pewter plates, basins, and 
dishes, and spoons, scoured and bright. It was none of your new-fangled pewter made of 
lead, but the best London pewter, which our father himself bought of Townsend, the man¬ 
ufacturer. These were the plates upon which you could hold your meat so as to cut it 
without slipping and without dulling your knife. But, alas! the days of pewter plates and 
sharp dinner knives have passed away never to return. To return to our internal ar¬ 
rangements. A ladder of five rounds occupied the corner near the window. By this, 
when we got a floor above, we could ascend. Our chimney occupied most of the east end ; 
pots and kettles opposite the window under the shelves, a gun on hooks over the north 
door, four split-bottom chairs, three three-legged stools, and a small eight by ten looking- 
glass sloped from the wall over a large towel and combcase. These, with a clumsy shovel 
and a pair of tongs, made in Frederick, with one shank straight, as the best manufacture 
of pinches and blood-blisters, completed our furniture, except a spinning-wheel and such 
things as were necessary to work with. It was absolutely necessary to have three-legged 
stools, as four legs of any thing could not all touch the floor at the same time. 

The completion of our cabin went on slowly. The season was inclement, we were 
weak-handed and weak-pocketed ; in fact, laborers were not to be had. We got our chim¬ 
ney up breast high as soon as we could, and got our cabin daubed as high as the joists 
outside. It never was daubed on the inside, for my sister, who was very nice, could not 


































64 


BELMONT COUNTY. 


consent to “ live right next to the mud.” My impression now is, that the window was 
not constructed till spring, for until the sticks and clay was put on the chimney we could 
possibly have no need of a window ; for the flood of light which always poured into the 
cabin from the fireplace would have extinguished our paper window, and rendered it as 
useless as the moon at noonday. We got a floor laid over head as soon as possible, per¬ 
haps in a month ; but when it was laid, the reader will readily conceive of its imperviousness 
to wind or weather, when we mention that it was laid of loose clapboards split from a red 
oak, the stump of which may be seen beyond the cabin. That tree grew in the night, and 
so twisting that each board laid on two diagonally opposite corners, and a cat might have 
shook every board on our ceiling. 

Jt may be well to inform the unlearned reader that clapboards are such lumber as pio¬ 
neers split with a frow, and resemble barrel staves before they are shaved, but are split 
longer, wider and thinner; of such our roof and ceiling were composed. Puncheons 
were planks made by splitting logs to about two and a half or three inches in thickness, 
and hewing them on one or both sides with the broad-axe. Of such our floor, doors, ta¬ 
bles and stools were manufactured. The eave-bearers are those end logs which project 
over to receive the butting poles, against which the lower tier of clapboards rest in forming 
the roof. The trapping is the roof timbers, composing the gable end and the ribs, the ends 
of which appear in the drawing, being those logs upon which the clapboards lie. The 
trap logs are those of unequal length above the eave bearers, which form the gable ends, 
and upon which the ribs rest. The weight poles are those small logs laid on the roof, 
which weigh down the course of clapboards on which they lie, and against which the next 
course above is placed. The knees are pieces of heart timber placed above the butting 
poles, successively, to prevent the weight poles from rolling off.. 

The evenings of the first winter did not pass off as pleasantly as evenings afterward. 
We had raised no tobacco to stem and twist, no corn to shell, no turnips to scrape ; we 
had no tow to spin into rope-yarn, nor straw to plait for hats, and we had come so late we 
could get but few walnuts to crack. We had, however, the Bible, George Fox’s Journal, 
Barkley’s Apology, and a number of books, all better than much of the fashionable read¬ 
ing of the present day—from which, after reading, the reader finds he has gained nothing, 
while his understanding has been made the dupe of the writer’s fancy—that while reading 
he had given himself up to be led in mazes of fictitious imagination, and losing his taste 
for solid reading, as frothy luxuries destroy the appetite for wholesome food. To our stock 
of books were soon after added a borrowed copy of the Pilgrim’s Progress, which we read 
twice through without stopping. The first winter our living was truly scanty and hard ; 
but even this winter had its felicities. We had part of a barrel of flour which we had 
brought from Fredericktown. Besides this, we had a part of a jar of hog’s lard brought 
from old Carolina ; not the tasteless stuff which now goes by that name, but pure leaf lard, 
taken from hogs raised on pine roots and fattened on sweet potatoes, and into which, while 
rendering, were immersed the boughs of the fragrant bay tree, that imparted to the lard a 
rich flavor. Of that flour, shortened with this lard, my sister every Sunday morning, and 
at no other time, made short biscuit for breakfast—not these greasy gum-elastic biscuit, we 
mostly meet with now, rolled out with a pin, or cutout with a cutter; or those that are, per¬ 
haps, speckled by or puffed up with refined lye called salaeratus, but made out, one by 
one, in her fair hands, placed in neat juxtaposition in a skillet or spider, pricked with a 
fork to prevent blistering, and baked before an open fire—not half-baked and half-stewed 
in a cooking stove. ...... 

In the ordering of a good Providence the winter was open, but windy. While the wind 
was of great use in driving the smoke and ashes out of our cabin, it shook terribly the 
timber standing almost over us. We were sometimes much and needlessly alarmed. We 
had never seen a dangerous looking tree near a dwelling, but here we were surrounded by 
the tall giants of the forest, waving their boughs and uniting their brows over us, as if in 
defiance of our disturbing their repose, and usurping their long and uncontested pre¬ 
emption rights. The beech on the left often shook his bushy head over us as if in absolute 
disapprobation of our settling there, threatening to crush us if we did not pack up and start. 
The walnut over the spring branch stood high and straight; no one could tell which way 
it inclined, but all concluded that if it had a preference, it was in favor of quartering on 
our cabin. We got assistance to cut it down. The axeman doubted his ability to control 
its direction, by reason that he must necessarily cut it almost off before it would fall. He 
thought by felling the tree in the direction of the reader, along near the chimney, and thus 
favor the little lean it seemed to have, would be the means of saving the cabin. He was 
successful. Part-of the stump still stands. These, and all other dangerous trees, were got 
down without other damage than many frights and frequent desertions of the premises, by 



BELMONT COUNTY. 65 

the family while the trees were being cut. The ash beyond the house crossed the scarf 
and fell on the cabin, but without damage. 

The monotony of the time for several of the first years was broken and enlivened by 
the howl of wild beasts. The wolves howling around us seemed to moan their inability to 
drive us from their long and undisputed domain. The bears, panthers and deers seemingly 
got miffed at our approach or the partiality of the hunters, and but seldom troubled us. 
One bag of meal would make a whole family rejoicingly happy and thankful then, when 
a loaded East Indiaman will fail to do it now, and is passed off as a common business 
transaction without ever once thinking of the Giver, so independent have we become in the 
short space of forty years! Having got out of the wilderness in less time than the children 
of Israel, we seem to be even more forgetful and unthankful than they. When spring was 
fully come and our little patch of corn, three acres, put in among the beech roots, which 
at every step contended with the shovel-plough for the right of soil, and held it too, we 
enlarged our stock of conveniences. As soon as bark would run, (peel off,) we could 
make ropes and bark boxes. These we stood in great need of, as such things as bureaus, 
stands, wardrobes, or even barrels, were not to be had. The manner of making ropes of 
linn bark, was to cut the bark in strips of convenient length, and water-rot it in the same 
manner as rotting flax or hemp. When this was done, the inside bark would peel off and 
split up so fine as to make a pretty considerably rough and good-for-but-little kind of a 
rope. Of this, however, we were very glad, and let no ship owner with his grass ropes 
laugh at us. We made two kinds of boxes for furniture. One kind was of hickory bark 
with the outside shaved off. This we would take off all around the tree, the size of which 
would determine the calibre of our box. Into one end we would place a flat piece of 
bark or puncheon cut round to fit in the bark, which stood on end the same as when on 
the tree. There was little need of hooping, as the strength of the bark would keep that 
all right enough. Its shrinkage would make the top unsightly in a parlor now-a-days, but 
then they were considered quite an addition to the furniture. A much finer article was 
made of slippery-elm bark, shaved smooth and with the inside out, bent round and sewed 
together where the ends of the hoop or main bark lapped over. The length of the bark 
was around the box, and inside out. A bottom was made of a piece of the same bark dried 
flat, and a lid like that of a common band box, made in the same way. This was the 
finest furniture in a lady’s dressing room, and then, as now, with the finest furniture, the 
lapped or sewed side was turned to the wall and the prettiest part to the spectator. They 
were usually made oval, and while the bark was green were easily ornamented with draw¬ 
ings of birds, trees, &c., agreeably to the taste and skill of the fair manufacturer. As 
we belonged to the Society of Friends, it may be fairly presumed that our band boxes were 
not thus ornamented. 

We settled on beech land, which took much labor to clear. We could do no better than 
clear out the smaller stuff and burn the brush, &c., around the beeches which, in spite of 
the girdling and burning we could do to them, would leaf out the first year, and often a little 
the second. The land, however, was very rich, and would bring better corn than might 
be expected. We had to tend it principally with the hoe, that is, to chop down the nettles, 
the water-weed, and the touch-me-not. Grass, careless, lambs-quarter, and Spanish nee¬ 
dles were reserved to pester the better prepared farmer. We cleared a small turnip patch, 
which we got in about the 10th of August. We sowed in timothy seed, which took well, 
and next year we had a little hay besides. The tops and blades of the com were also 
carefully saved for our horse, cow, and the two sheep. The turnips were sweet and good, 
and in the fall we took care to gather walnuts and hickory nuts, which were very abun¬ 
dant. These, with the turnips which we scraped, supplied the place of fruit. I have al¬ 
ways been partial to scraped turnips, and could now beat any three dandies at scraping 
them. Johnny-cake, also, when we had meal to make it of, helped to make up our eve¬ 
ning’s repast. The Sunday morning biscuit had all evaporated, but the loss was partially 
supplied by the nuts and turnips. Our regular supper was mush and milk, and by the 
time we had shelled our corn, stemmed tobacco, and plaited straw to make hats, &c., &c., 
the mush and milk had seemingly decamped from the neighborhood of our ribs. To re¬ 
lieve this difficulty, my brother and I would bake a thin johnny-cake, part of which we 
would eat, and leave the rest till morning. At daylight we would eat the balance as we 
walked from the house to work. 

The methods of eating mush and milk were various. Some would sit around the pot, 
and every one take therefrom for himself. Some would set a table and each have his tin 
cup of milk, and with a pewter spoon take just as much mush from the dish or the pot, 
if it was on the table, as he thought would fill his mouth or throat, then lowering it into 
the milk, would take some to wash it down. This method kept the milk cool, and by 

9 




66 


BROWN COUNTY. 


frequent repetitions the pioneer would contract a faculty of correctly estimating the proper 
amount of each. Others would mix mush and milk together. 

To get grinding done was often a great difficulty, by reason of the scarcity of mills, the 
freezes in winter, and droughts in summer. We had often to manufacture meal (when we 
had corn ) in any way we could get the corn to pieces. We soaked and pounded it, we 
shaved it, we planed it, and, at the proper season, grated it. When one of our neighbors 
got a hand-mill, it was thought quite an acquisition to the neighborhood. In after years, 
when in time of freezing or drought, we could get grinding by waiting for our turn no 
more than one day and a night at a horse mill, we thought ourselves happy. To save 
meal we often made pumpkin bread, in which when meal was scarce, the pumpkin w r ould 
so predominate as to render it next to impossible to tell our bread from that article, either 
by taste, looks, or the amount of nutriment it contained. Salt was five dollars per bushel, 
and we used none in our com bread, which we soon liked as well without it. Often has 
sweat ran into my mouth, which tasted as fresh and flat as distilled water. What meat 
we had at first was fresh, and but little of that, for had we been hunters we had no time to 
practice it. 

We had no candles, and cared but little about them except for summer use. In Carolina 
we had the real fat light-wood, not merely pine knots, but the fat straight pine. This, from 
the brilliancy of our parlor, of winter evenings, might be supposed to put, not only can¬ 
dles, lamps, camphine, Greenough’s chemical oil, but even gas itself, to the blush. In the 
West we had not this, but my business was to ramble the woods every evening for sea¬ 
soned sticks, or the bark of the shelly hickory, for light. ’Tis true that our light was not 
as good as even candles, but we got along without fretting, for we depended more upon 
the goodness of our eyes than we did upon the brilliancy of the light. 

Barnesville, 18 miles wsw. of St. Clairsville, is a large and flour¬ 
ishing town, containing 2 churches, 1 male academy, 1 masonic hall, 
and a population of about 750. Martinsville, 2 miles nw. of Wheel¬ 
ing city, on the Ohio river, contains 3 churches, 3 stores, and a 
population of 400. Morristown, 10 miles w. of St. Clairsville, on 
the National road, has 5 stores, 2 churches, and 350 people. Flush¬ 
ing, 10 miles nw. of St. Clairsville, has 3 stores and 250 people. 
Bellaire, Belmont, Hendrysburg, Jacobsburg, Somerton, Uniontown, 
West Wheeling, Burlington, Centreville, Farmington, Loydsville, 
Shepperdstown, and Steinersvile, are also small villages. 


BROWN. 


Brown was formed from Adams and Clermont, March 1 , 1817, 
and named from Gen. Jacob Brown, an officer of the war of 1812. 
Excepting the Ohio river hills, the surface is level or undulating, 
and the soil generally fertile : the northern part, more especially, is 
adapted to grazing, and the southern to grain. The staples are 
wheat, corn, rye, oats and pork. The following are the names of 
its townships in 1840, with their population. 


Byrd, 2422 Huntington, 1957 

Clark, 1290 Jackson, 1253 

Eagle, 888 Lewis, 2044 

Franklin, 1199 Perry, 1869 

Green, 358 Pike, 792 


Pleasant, 1485 

Scott, 1101 

Sterling, 608 

Union, 2071 

Washington, 848 


Population of Brown county, in 1820, 13,367; in 1830, 17,866; 
in 1840, 21,825, or 44 inhabitants to a square mile. 

A short time previous to the settlement of this county, a severe 




DROWN COUNTY. 


67 


battle was fought at a locality, called “ the salt lick,” in Perry town¬ 
ship, in the northern part of the county, between a party of Ken¬ 
tuckians and some Indians, under Tecumseh. The circumstances 
are here given from Drake’s life of that celebrated Indian chief. 

“In the month of March, 1792, some horses were stolen by the 
Indians, from the settlements in Mason county, Kentucky. A party 
of whites, to the number of thirty-six, was immediately raised for 
the purpose of pursuing them. It embraced Kenton, Whiteman, 
M’lntyre, Downing, Washburn, Calvin and several other expe¬ 
rienced woodsmen. The first named, Simon Kenton, a distinguished 
Indian fighter, was placed in command. The trail of the Indians 
being taken, it was found they had crossed the Ohio, just below the 
mouth of Lee’s creek, which was reached by the pursuing party 
towards evening. Having prepared rafts, they crossed the Ohio 
that night, and encamped. Early next morning the trail was again 
taken and pursued, on a north course, all day, the weather being bad 
and the ground wet. On the ensuing morning, twelve of the men 
were unable to continue the pursuit, and were permitted to return. 
The remainder followed the trail until eleven o’clock, A. M., when 
a bell was heard, which they supposed indicated their approach to 
the Indian camp. A halt was called, and all useless baggage and 
clothing laid aside. Whiteman and two others were sent ahead as 
spies, in different directions, each being followed by a detachment 
of the party. After moving forward some distance, it was found 
that the bell was approaching them. They halted, and soon per¬ 
ceived a solitary Indian riding towards them. When within one 
hundred and fifty yards, he was fired at and killed. Kenton directed 
the spies to proceed, being now satisfied that the camp of the In¬ 
dians was near at hand. They pushed on rapidly, and after going 
about four miles, found the Indians encamped on the south-east side 
of the east fork of the Little Miami, a few miles above the place where 
the town of Williamsburg has since been built. The indications of 
a considerable body of Indians were so strong, that the expediency 
of an attack at that hour of the day was doubted by Kenton. A 
hurried council was held, in which it was determined to retire, if it 
could be done without discovery, and lie concealed until night, and 
then assault the camp. This plan was carried into execution. Two 
of the spies were left to watch the Indians, and ascertain whether 
the pursuing party had been discovered. The others retreated for 
some distance, and took a commanding position on a ridge. The 
spies watched until night, and then reported to their commander, 
that they had not been discovered by the enemy. The men being 
wet and cold, they were now marched down into a hollow, where 
they kindled fires, dried their clothes, and put their rifles in order. 
The party was then divided into three detachments,—Kenton com¬ 
manding the right, M’lntyre the centre, and Downing the left. By 
agreement, the three divisions were to move towards the camp, 
simultaneously, and when they had approached as near as possible, 
without giving an alarm, were to be guided in the commencement 


68 


BROWN COUNTY. 


of the attack, by the fire from Kenton’s party. When Downing and 
his detachment had approached close to the camp, an Indian rose 
upon his feet, and began to stir up the fire, which was but dimly 
burning. Fearing a discovery, Downing’s party instantly shot him 
down. This was followed by a general fire from the three detach¬ 
ments, upon the Indians who were sleeping under some marquees 
and. bark tents, close upon the margin of the stream. But un¬ 
fortunately, as it proved in the sequel, Kenton’s party had taken 
“Boone,” as their watch-word. This name happening to be as 
familiar to the enemy as themselves, led to some confusion in the 
course of the engagement. When fired upon, the Indians, instead 
of retreating across the stream, as had been anticipated, boldly stood 
to their arms, returned the fire of the assailants, and rushed upon 
them. They were reinforced, moreover, from a camp on the oppo¬ 
site side of the river, which, until then, had been unperceived by the 
whites. In a few minutes, the Indians and the Kentuckians were 
blended with each other, and the cry of “ Boone,” and “ Che Boone,” 
arose simultaneously from each party. 

“It was after midnight when the attack was made, and there being 
no moon, it was very dark. Kenton, perceiving that his men were 
likely to be overpowered, ordered a retreat, after the attack had 
lasted for a few minutes ; this was continued through the remainder 
of the night and part of the next day, the Indians pursuing them, 
but without killing more than one of the retreating party. The 
Kentuckians lost but two men, Alexander M’Intyre and John Barr. 
The loss of the Indians was much greater, according to the state¬ 
ments of some prisoners, who, after the peace of 1795, were re¬ 
leased and returned to Kentucky. They related, that fourteen In¬ 
dians were killed, and seventeen wounded. They stated further, 
that there were in the camp about one hundred warriors, among 
them several chiefs of note, including Tecumseh, Battise, Black 
Snake, Wolf and Chinskau; and that the party had been formed for 
the purpose of annoying the settlements in Kentucky, and attacking 
boats descending the Ohio river. Kenton and his party # were three 
days in reaching Limestone, during two of which they were without 
food, and destitute of sufficient clothing to protect them from the 
cold winds and rains of March. The foregoing particulars of this 
expedition are taken from the manuscript narrative of Gen. Benja¬ 
min Whiteman, one of the early and gallant pioneers to Kentucky, 
now a resident of Green county, Ohio. 

“The statements of Anthony Shane and of Stephen Ruddell, touch¬ 
ing this action, vary in some particulars from that which has been 
given above, and also from the narrative in McDonald’s Sketches. 
The principal difference relates to the number of Indians in the 
engagement, and the loss sustained by them. They report but two 
killed, and that the Indian force was less than that of the whites. 
Ruddell states, that at the commencement of the attack, Tecumseh 
was lying by the fire, outside of the tents. When the first gun was 
heard, he sprang to his feet, and calling upon Sinnamatha to follow 


BROWN COUNTY. 


69 


his example, and charge, he rushed forward and killed one of the 
whites [John Barr] with his war-club. The other Indians, raising 
the war-whoop, seized their arms, and rushing upon Kenton and his 
party, compelled them, after a severe contest of a few minutes, to 
retreat. One of the Indians, in the midst of the engagement, fell 
into the river, and in the effort to get out of the water, made so 
much noise, that it created a belief on the minds of the whites, that 
a reinforcement was crossing the stream to aid Tecumseh. This is 
supposed to have hastened the order from Kenton, for his men to 
retreat. The afternoon prior to the battle, one of Kenton’s men, by 
the name of M’Intyre, succeeded in catching an Indian horse, which 
he tied in the rear of the camp ; and, when a retreat was ordered, 
he mounted and rode off. Early in the morning, Tecumseh and four 
of his men set off in pursuit of the retreating party. Having fallen 
upon the trail of M’Intyre, they pursued it for some distance, and at 
length overtook him. He had struck a fire, and was cooking some 
meat. When M’Intyre discovered his pursuers, he instantly fled at 
full speed. Tecumseh and two others followed, and were fast gain¬ 
ing on him, when he turned and raised his gun. Two of the In¬ 
dians, who happened to be in advance of Tecumseh, sprung behind 
trees, but he rushed upon M’Intyre and made him prisoner. He 
was tied and taken back to the battle ground. Upon reaching it, 
Tecumseh deemed it prudent to draw off his men, lest the whites 
should rally and renew the attack. He requested some of the In¬ 
dians to catch the horses, but they, hesitating, he undertook to do it 
himself, assisted by one of the party. When he returned to camp 
with the horses, he found that his men had killed M’Intyre. At this 
act of cruelty to a prisoner, he was exceedingly indignant; declar¬ 
ing that it was a cowardly act to kill a man when tied, and a pris¬ 
oner. The conduct of Tecumseh, in this engagement, and in the 
events of the following morning, is creditable alike to his courage 
and humanity. Resolutely brave in battle, his arm was never up¬ 
lifted against a prisoner, nor did he suffer violence to be inflicted 
upon a captive, without promptly rebuking it.” 

McDonald, in speaking of this action, says: 

“ The celebrated Tecumseh commanded the Indians. His cau¬ 
tious and fearless intrepidity made him a host wherever he went. 
In military tactics, night attacks are not allowable, except in cases 
like this, when the assailing party are far inferior in numbers. 
Sometimes, in night attacks, panics and confusion are created in the 
attacked party, which may render them a prey to inferior numbers. 
Kenton trusted to something like this on the present occasion, but 
was disappointed; for when Tecumseh was present, his influence 
over the minds of his followers infused that confidence in his tact 
and intrepidity, that they could only be defeated by force of num¬ 
bers.” 

Georgetown, the county seat, is 107 miles from Columbus, 30 
from Hillsboro, 46 from Wilmington, 21 from Batavia and West 
Union. It was laid off in the year 1819, and its original propietors 


70 


BROWN COUNTY. 


were Allen Woods and Henry Newkirk. It is a smart business 
town, containing 1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, 1 Christian Disciples, and 
1 Methodist church, a newspaper printing office, and about 800 
inhabitants. The view shows the public square, with the old court 



Public Square, Georgetown. 

house on the left, and on the right, in the distance, a new and 
elegant Methodist church. It is contemplated to erect, shortly, a 
new court house, in good architectural taste. Georgetown was the 
residence of the late Gen. Thomas L. Hamer, who died in Mexico. 

He commenced the practice of the law in Georgetown, in the 
year 1820, which he continued until June, 1846, at which time he 
volunteered in the Mexican war. He was elected Major of the 1st 
Reg. Ohio Volunteers, and received the appointment of Brig. Gen. 
from the President, before his departure for the seat of war. In 
that station, he acquitted himself with great ability up to the period 
of his death. He was in the battle at Monterey, and on Maj. Gen. 
Butler’s being wounded, succeeded him in the command. He dis¬ 
tinguished himself on this occasion, by his coolness and courage. 

Gen. Hamer was endowed with most extraordinary abilities as 
an orator, advocate and lawyer. He represented the district in 
which he resided, six years in congress, and distinguished himself as 
an able and sagacious statesman; and at the time of his death, was 
a member elect to congress. 

The estimation in which he was held by his professional brethren, 
may be feebly gathered from the proceedings of the members of 
the bar of his county, the proceedings of which meeting were pre¬ 
sented to the Supreme Court of Ohio, for Brown county, on the 23d 
of April, and the court requested to have the same entered upon their 
journals; whereupon, Judge Read expressed the views of the court, 
as follows: 

“ It is with pleasure that the court direct the proceedings of the 
bar to be entered of record, as the customary tribute to distinguished 
worth. It is proper to add, that the court sympathize deeply with 









BROWN COUNTY, 


71 


the family of Gen. Hamer, and the bar, and the community, in the 
loss we have sustained. Gen. Hamer was an ornament to the bar, 
and had distinguished himself in the counsels of the nation, and won 
to himself renown upon her battlefields. It is proper’that one 
should cherish his memory, and keep his virtues and example before 
us. We, therefore, direct the clerk to enter these proceedings of 
record, as a testimonial of the high estimation entertained for the 
deceased by the court and the bar, and as a slight expression of the 
deep regret felt for his loss.” 

In the county, there are two large settlements of colored persons, 
numbering about 500 each. One of these is 3 miles north of George¬ 
town ; the other is in the ne. part of the county, about 16 miles 
distant. They emigrated from Virginia, in the year 1818, and were 
originally the slaves of Samuel Gist, who manumitted and settled 
them here, upon two large surveys of land. Their situation, unfor¬ 
tunately, is not prosperous. 



Ripley, from the Kentucky side of the Ohio. 

Ripley is upon the Ohio, 10 miles from Georgetown, 9 below 
Maysville, and 50 above Cincinnati. The town was laid out about 
the period of the war of 1812, by Col. James Poage, a native of 
Virginia, and first named Staunton, from Staunton, Va.; it was 
afterwards changed to Ripley, from Gen. Ripley, an officer of dis¬ 
tinction in the war. When the county was first formed, the courts 
were directed to be held at the house of Alex. Campbell, in this 
town, until a permanent seat of justice should be established. For 
a time, it was supposed that this would be the county seat; a court 
house was begun, but before it was finished, the county seat was 
permanently established at Georgetown. The courts were, for a 
time, held in the 1 st Presbyterian church, which was the first public 











72 


BUTLER COUNTY, 


house of worship erected. Ripley is the largest and most business 
place in the county, and one of the most flourishing villages on the 
Ohio river, within the limits of the state. The view shows the 
central part of the town only; it extends about a mile on the river. 
Ripley contains 2 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist, 1 Associate Reformed, 
1 New Light, and 1 Catholic church, 20 stores, 1 newspaper print¬ 
ing office, 1 iron foundery, 1 carding machine, 3 flouring mills, and 
had, in 1840, 1245 inhabitants; since, it has considerably increased. 
The Ripley female seminary, under the charge of Wm. C. Bissell 
and lady, has about forty pupils. The “ Ripley College” was char¬ 
tered by the state, but not endowed: it is now a high school, under 
the care of the Rev. John Rankin, and an assistant, and has about 
forty pupils, of both sexes. This institution admits colored children 
within its walls; and there are quite a number of people, in this 
region, who hold to the doctrine of equal rights, politically and so¬ 
cially, to all, irrespective of color. 

Aberdeen, opposite Maysville, Ky., was founded by Nathan Ellis, 
who was either from Scotland or of Scotch extraction. It contains 
several stores and churches, and had, in 1840, 405 inhabitants. Hig- 
ginsport, on the river, 7 miles from Georgetown, is a considerable 
village, and has 3 churches, 4 stores, and, in 1840, had 393 inhab¬ 
itants. Russelville is also a village of note, 7 miles e. of George¬ 
town, and is famous for its churches, of which it has seven, together 
with as many stores, and about 350 inhabitants. In the Perry town¬ 
ship, in the extreme north part of the county, are many Catholics. 
They have a cathedral of much splendor, and a nunnery. Decatur, 
Hamersville, Arnheim, Sardinia, Fincastle, Carlisle, New Hope, 
Fayetteville and Greenbush are small villages in the county. 


BUTLER. 


Butler was formed in 1803, from Hamilton, and named in honor 
of Gen. Richard Butler, a distinguished officer of the revolution, 
who fell in St. Clair’s defeat. The surface is level. It is all within 
the blue limestone formation, and is one of the richest agricultural 
tracts in Ohio. Its staples are corn, wheat, oats and pork. It pro¬ 
duces more corn than any county of the state, the annual crop being 
over two millions of bushels ! A large proportion of its population 
are of German descent. The following are the names of its town¬ 
ships, in 1840, with their population. 


Fairfield, 

Hanover, 

Lemon, 

Liberty, 

Madison, 


3580 

1680 

3065 

1479 

2208 


Milford, 

Morgan, 

Oxford, 

Reily, 


1868 

1726 

3422 

1758 


Ross, 1524 

St. Clair, 2307 
Union, 2118 
Wayne, 1562 


In 1820, its population was 21,755; in 1830, 27,143; in 1840 
28,207, or 59 inhabitants to a square mile. 



BUTLER COUNTY. 


73 


The large and flourishing town of Hamilton, the county seat, is 
22 miles n. of Cincinnati, on the left bank of the Great Miami. It 
contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, 1 German Lu¬ 
theran, 1 Associate Reformed, 1 Baptist, and 1 Catholic church, a 



Public Square, Hamilton. 

flourishing female academy, 2 newspaper printing offices, 3 flouring 
mills, 3 cotton factories, 3 saw mills, 2 foundries, 2 machine shops, 
and about 16 mercantile stores ; in 1840, its population was 1409, 
since which it has considerably increased. Hamilton is destined to 
be an important manufacturing town. The hydraulic works, lately 
built here, rank among the best water powers west of the Alle- 
ghanies. This work is formed by a canal, commencing at the Big 
Miami, four miles above the town, and emptying into the river near 
the bridge, at Hamilton. By it a very great amount of never fail¬ 
ing water power has been created, sufficient, with a small additional 
investment, to propel 200 runs of 4j mill stones. It is durably con¬ 
structed, and is adding much to the business of the community. 



View of Rossville,from Hamilton. 

Hamilton is neatly built, and has an elegant public square, on which 
stand the county buildings; it is enclosed by an iron fence, hand¬ 
somely covered with green turf, and shaded by locusts and other 

10 



















74 


BUTLER COUNTY. 


ornamental trees. A noble bridge, erected at the expense of about 
$25,000, connects this town with its neighbor, Rossville, on the 
opposite bank of the Miami, wffiich the engraving shows as it ap¬ 
pears from the market, in Hamilton. Rossville is also a flourishing 
place, superior to Hamilton, as a mercantile town, as that is as a 
manufacturing one. This arises from the circumstance, that it is 
more convenient to the greater proportion of the farmers of the 
county, who reside on that side of the Miami. It contains 1 Pres¬ 
byterian and 1 Baptist church, 1 flouring mill, about 18 mercantile 
stores, and had, in 1840, 1140 inhabitants; its population has since 
increased. 

The route of St. Clair, in his disastrous campaign, in 1791, passed 
through this county. In September, of that year, Fort Hamilton 
was built at the crossing of the Great Miami, on the site of Hamil¬ 
ton. It was intended as a place of deposit for provisions, and to form 
the first link in the communication between Fort Washington and the 

object of the campaign. It 
was a stockade of fifty yards 
square, with four good bastions, 
and platforms for cannon in two 
of them, with barracks. In the 
summer succeeding, an addi¬ 
tion was made to the fort, by 
order of Gen. Wilkinson, which 
consisted in enclosing, with 
pickets, an area of ground on 
the north part, so that it ex¬ 
tended up the river to about 
the north line of the present 
Stable street. The southern 
point of the work extended to 
the site of the Associate Re¬ 
formed church. 

The plan given of the fort, 
is from the survey of Mr. Jas. 
M’Bride,* of Hamilton, made 
by him several years after. 

References .—A. The old fort 
built by St. Clair. B. Addi¬ 
tion. a. Officers quarters, b. 
Mess room. c. Magazine, d. 
Artificers shop, e, f g. Block 
houses. ^ C. Present bridge 
across the Miami, shown m the view of Rossville. 



* This gentleman has written a large volume—as yet unpublished—filled with valuable 
facts and anecdotes connected with the history of the Miami valley. For the historical 
sketch of Hamilton, and several incidents in various parts of our work, we are indebted to 
these mss. 









BUTLER COUNTY. 


75 


Late in the fall of 1792, an advance corps of troops, under the command of Major Ru¬ 
dolph, arrived at Fort Hamilton, where they wintered. They consisted of three companies 
of light dragoons, one of rifle, and one of infantry. Rudolph was a Major of dragoons, 
from lower Virginia. His reputation was that of an arbitrary and tyrannical officer. 
Sometime in the spring, seven soldiers deserted to the Ohio river, where, procuring a canoe, 
they started for New Orleans. Ten or fifteen miles below the falls of the Ohio, they were 
met by Lieut, (since Gen.) Clark, and sent back to Fort Hamilton, where a court martial 
sentenced three of them to be hung, two to run the gauntlet, and the remaining two to 

lie in irons, in the guard house, for a stipulated period. John Brown, Seth Blin and_. 

Gallaher, were the three sentenced to be hung. The execution took place the next day, 
on a gallows erected below the fort, just south of the site of the present Associate Reformed 
church, and near the residence of James B. Thomas. 

Five hundred soldiers were drawn up in arms around the fatal spot, to witness the exit 
of their unfortunate comrades. The appearance of the sufferers, at the gallows, is said to 
have been most prepossessing. They were all young men of spirit, and handsome appear¬ 
ance, in the opening bloom of life, with their long hair floating over their shoulders. John 
Brown was said to have been a young man, of very respectable connections, who lived 
near Albany, New York. Early in life, he had formed an attachment for a young woman 
in his neighborhood, of unimpeachable character, but whose social standing did not com¬ 
port with the pride of his parents. He was forbidden to associate with her, and required 
to pay his addresses to another. Broken-hearted and desponding, he left his home, en¬ 
listed in a company of dragoons, and came to the west. His commanding officer treated 
him so unjustly, that he was led to desert. When under the gallows, the sergeant, acting 
as executioner, inquired why the sentence of the law should not be enforced upon him, he 
replied, with emphasis—pointing to Major Rudolph—•“ that he had rather die nine hun¬ 
dred deaths, than be subject to the command of such a manand was swung off, without 
a murmur. Seth Blin was the son of a respectable widow, residing in the state of New 
York. The rope being awkwardly fastened around his neck, he struggled greatly. Three 
times he raised his feet, until they came in contact with the upper part of the gallows, 
when the exertion broke his neck. 

Immediately after the sentence had been pronounced on these men, a friend hastened to 
Fort Washington, where he obtained a pardon from Gen. Wilkinson. But he was too late. 
The execution had been hastened by Major Rudolph, and he arrived at Hamilton fifteen 
minutes after the spirits of these unfortunate men had taken their flight to another world. 
Their bodies were immediately committed to the grave, under the gallows. There, in the 
dark and narrow house, in silence, lies the only son of a widowed mother, the last of his 
family. A vegetable garden is now cultivated over the spot, by those who think not nor 
know not of the once warm heart that lies cold below. 

The two other deserters were sentenced to run the gauntlet sixteen times, between two 
ranks of soldiers, which was carried forthwith into execution. The lines were formed in 
the rising ground, east of the fort, where now lies Front street, and extended from Smith- 
man’s corner to the intersection of Ludlow street. One of them, named Roberts, having 
passed eight times through the ranks, fell, and was unable to proceed. The attendant phy¬ 
sician stated that he could stand it no longer, as his life had already been endangered. 

Sometime after Gen. Wayne arrived at the post, and although frequently represented as 
an arbitrary man, he was so much displeased with the cruelty of Major Rudolph, that he 
gave him his choice, to resign or be cashiered. He chose the former, returned to Virginia, 
and subsequently, in company with another gentleman, purchased a ship, and went on a 
trading voyage to Europe. They were captured (it is stated) by an Algerine cruiser, and 
Rudolph was hung at the yard arm of his own vessel. I have heard some of those who 
were under his command, in Wayne’s army, express satisfaction at the fate of this unfor¬ 
tunate man. 

In the summer of 1792, two wagoners were watching some oxen, which had been turned 
out to graze on the common below the fort; a shower of rain coming on, they retired for 
shelter under a tree, which stood near where the sycamore grove now is. Some Indians, 
who had been watching from under the covert of the adjoining underbrush, rushed sud¬ 
denly upon them, killed one and took the other prisoner. The latter was Henry Shafor, 
who, after his return, lived, until a few years past, two or three miles below Rossville, on 
the river. 

In September, 1793, the army of Wayne marched from Cincinnati to Fort Hamilton, and 
encamped in the upper part of the prairie, about half a mile south of the present town, 
nearly on the same ground on which Gen. St. Clair had encamped in 1791. Here they 
threw up a breastwork, the remains of which may yet be traced at the point where the 



7G 


BUTLER COUNTY, 


present road strikes the Miami river, above Traber’s mill. A few days after, they con¬ 
tinued their march toward the Indian country. 

Gen. Wayne detailed a strong guard of men for the defence of the fort, the command of 
which was given to Major Jonathan Cass, of the army of the revolution, and father of the 
Hon. Lewis Cass, of the U. S. Senate. Major Cass continued in command until the 
treaty of Greenville. 

On the 17th of December, 1794, Israel Ludlow laid out, within Symmes’s purchase, the 
original plot of the town of Hamilton, which he, at first, for a short time only, called Fair- 
field. Shortly after, a few settlers came in. The first settlers were Darius C. Orcut, John 
Green, Wm. M’Clennan, John Sutherland, John Torrence, Benj. F. Randolph, Benj. Davis, 
Isaac Wiles, Andrew Christy and Wm. Hubbert. 

Previous to 1801, all the lands on the west side of the Great Miami were owned by the 
United States, consequently there were no improvements made on that side of the river, 
except by a few squatters. There was one log house built at an early period, near the 
west end of the bridge, now owned by the heirs of Lewis P. Sayre. On the first Mon¬ 
day in April, 1801,—at the first sale of the United States lands west of the Miami, held at 
Cincinnati,—a company purchased the site of Rossville, on which, March 14th, 1804, they 
laid out the town. Mr. John Reily was the agent of the proprietors. 

The first settlers of Hamilton suffered much from the fever and ague, and being princi¬ 
pally disbanded soldiers, without energy, and many of them dissipated, but little improve¬ 
ment was made for the first few years. In those early times, horse-racing was a favorite 
amusement, and an affair of all engrossing interest. On public days, indeed on almost every 
other Saturday, the streets and commons in the upper part of the town were converted 
into race paths. The race course comprehended the common from 2d to 4th street. At 
2d street, a short distance north of the site of the Catholic church, was an elevated scaffold 
on which stood the judges of the race. On grand occasions, the plain within the course and 
near it, were occupied with booths, erected with forks and covered with boughs. Here 
every thing was said, done, eaten, sold and drank. Here was Black Jack with his fiddle, 
and his votaries making the dust fly, with a four-handed, or rather four-footed reel; and 
every fifteen or twenty minutes was a rush to some part to see a “fisty cvff.” Among 
the bustling crowd of jockies were assembled all classes. Even Judges of the court min¬ 
gled with the crowd, and sometimes presided at the contests of speed between the ponies 
of the neighborhood. 

Soon after the formation of Butler county, Hamilton was made the county seat. The 
first sessions of the court were held in the tavern of Mr. Torrence, now the residence of 
Henry S. Earhart. The sessions of the court after this were held in the former mess room 
of the fort. It was a rough one story frame building, about 40 by 20 feet, weather-board¬ 
ed, without either filling or plastering, and stood about where the market now is. It was 
elevated from the ground about three feet by wooden blocks affording a favorite shelter for 
the hogs and sheep of the village. The Judges seat was a rough platform of unplaned 
boards, and a long table in front, like a carpenter’s work bench, was used by the bar. In 
1810, the court was removed to a room over the stone jail, and in 1817, transferred to 
the present court house. 

The court, at their July term, in 1803, selected the old magazine within the fort as a county 
jail. It was a heavy built log building, about 12 feet square, with a hipped roof coming to 
a common center and surmounted by a ball. The door had a hole in the center shaped 
like a half-moon, through which air, light and food were conveyed, while on the outside it 
was secured by a pad-lock and hasp. It was very insecure, and escapes were almost as fre¬ 
quent as committals. It was the only jail for Butler county, from 1803 to 1809. A 
small log house formerly a sutlers store, was used as a clerk’s office. It has since been al¬ 
tered into a private dwelling, at present occupied by Dutch Jacob. The house erected 
by Gen. Wilkinson, in ’92, for officer’s quarters, (see a plan of fort,) was converted into 
a tavern kept by the county sheriff, Wm. M’Clellan, while the barracks and artificers 
shops were used as stables. 


^ John Cleves Symmes, the 

of the “Theory of 
^ Concentric Spheres, demon- 
■ ’ strating that the Earth is hol- 

J. C. Symmes's Signature. low, habitable within, and 

widely open about the Poles,” died at Hamilton, May 28th, 1829. 
He was born in New Jersey about the year 1780 . His father, 





BUTLER COUNTY. 


77 


Timothy Symmes, was the brother of John Cleves Symmes, well- 
known as the founder of the first settlements of the Miami valley. 
In the early part of his life he received a common school education, 
and in 1802 was commissioned an ensign in the army. In 1813, he 
was promoted to a captaincy, in which capacity he served until the 
close of the war with honor. He was in the hard-fought battle of 
Bridgewater, and at the sortie of Fort Erie, where with his com¬ 
mand he captured a battery, and personally spiked the cannon. At 
the close of the war he retired from the army, and for about three 
years was engaged in furnishing supplies to the troops stationed on 
the Upper Mississippi. After this, he resided for a number of years 
at Newport, Ky., and devoted himself to philosophical researches 
connected with his favorite theory. In a short circular, dated at St. 
Louis, in 1818, Capt. Symmes first promulgated the fundamental 
principles of his theory to the world. From time to time, he pub¬ 
lished various articles in the public prints upon the subject. He 
also delivered lectures, first at Cincinnati in 1820, and afterwards 
in various places in Kentucky and Ohio. 

“ In the year 1822, Capt. Symmes petitioned the Congress of the United States, setting 
forth, in the first place, his belief of the existence of a habitable and accessible concave to 
this globe; his desire to embark on a voyage of discovery to one or other of the polar re¬ 
gions ; his belief in the great profit and honor his country would derive from such a dis¬ 
covery ; and prayed that Congress would equip and fit out for the expedition, two vessels 
of two hundred and fifty, or three hundred, tons burthen ; and grant such other aid as gov¬ 
ernment might deem necessary to promote the object. This petition was presented in the 
Senate by Col. Richard M. Johnson, a member from Kentucky, on the 7th day of March, 
1822, when, (a motion to refer it to the committee of Foreign Relations having failed,) after 
a few remarks it was laid on the table.— Ayes, 25. In December, 1823, he forwarded sim¬ 
ilar petitions to both houses of Congress, which met with a similar fate. In January, 1824, 
he petitioned the General Assembly of the state of Ohio, praying that body to pass a reso¬ 
lution approbatory of his theory; and to recommend him to Congress for an outfit suitable 
to the enterprise. This memorial was presented by Micajah T. Williams; and, on mo¬ 
tion, the further consideration thereof was indefinitely postponed.” 

His theory was met with ridicule, both in this country and Eu¬ 
rope, and became a fruitful source of jest and levity, to the public 
prints of the day. * Notwithstanding, he advanced many plausi¬ 
ble and ingenious arguments, and 
won quite a number of converts 
among those who attended his lec¬ 
tures, one of whom, a gentleman 
now residing at Hamilton, wrote 
a work in its support, published in 
Cincinnati in 1826, in which he states 
his readiness to embark on a voy¬ 
age of discovery, for the purpose of 
testing its truth. Captain Symmes 
met with the usual fate of projec¬ 
tors, in living and dying in great 
pecuniary embarrassment. In per¬ 
son, he was of the medium stature, 
J. C. Symmes' Monument . and simple in his manners. He 

bore the character of an honest, exemplary man, and was respected 









78 


BUTLER COUNTY. 


by all his associates. He was buried at Hamilton. The monument 
represented by the cut, has been built, but is not yet placed over his 
remains. It is surmounted by a globe, “open at the poles.” 

Mr. John Reily, of this county, is one of the five members living 
of the convention which framed the Constitution of Ohio. His 
friend, Judge Burnet, in his late work, has given an eloquent tribute 
to his character and services. 

Middletown is 12 miles ne. of Hamilton, and 20 below Dayton, in 
a rich and beautiful country. The Miami canal runs east of the cen¬ 
tral part of the town, and the Miami river bounds it on the west. 



Lebanon Street, Middletown. 


It is connected with Dayton and Cincinnati, and with West Alex¬ 
andria, in Preble county, by turnpikes. The Warren county canal 
enters the main canal at this town. Two or three miles above, a 
dam is thrown across the Miami, from which a connecting feeder 
supplies the Miami canal. This work furnishes much water power, 
which, with a little expense, can be increased and used to great 
advantage. There are within three miles of Middletown, 8 flour¬ 
ing mills on the river and canal. Middletown was laid out in 1802, 
by Stephen Vail and James Sutton. Calvin Morrell, James Brady, 
Cyrus Osbourn, Daniel Doty, Elisha Wade and Richard Watts were 
among its early settlers. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, and 
1 Methodist church, a classical academy, 16 mercantile stores, 2 for¬ 
warding houses, 1 grist mill and 1 woolen factory, and in 1840, had 
809 inhabitants. The view of Lebanon street, was taken at its in¬ 
tersection with Broadway. Liebee’s block is shown on the right, 
Deardorf’s mill and the bridge over the Miami partly appear in^the 
distance. 

In the northwest corner of the county, 12 miles from Hamilton, on 
a high and beautiful elevation, is the handsome town of Oxford,’the 
seat of the Miami University. It contains 9 mercantile stores, 1 
woolen factory, 2 Presbyterian, 1 Associate Reformed, and 1 Meth¬ 
odist church, and in 1840, had 1179 inhabitants. The Associate 
church have established a theological school here, under the care of 
the Rev. Dr. Claybaugh; it is yet in its infancy, promises well, and 
has a valuable collection of books. 














CARROL COUNTY. 


79 


The Miami University buildings are in the north part of the 
town, in a large enclosure of fifty acres, part of which is in the 



Miami University at Oxford. 


original forest, and the remainder covered with a green sward, and 
ornamented with scattering shade trees. Including the preparatory 
department, there are about 150 students in the institution, which is 
under the charge of a President—the Rev. E. D. MacMaster—and 
4 professors, beside the principal of the preparatory department. 
“ The course of studies are not less extensive than those of the best 
colleges in the Union, and its faculty are earnestly endeavoring to 
establish the institution on a solid foundation.” It was chartered in 
1809, by the legislature of Ohio, and a township of land given by 
Congress for its support. The University was not regularly opened 
for the reception of students, until Nov. 15th, 1824. From that pe¬ 
riod until 1841, it had 308 graduates. 

Somerville, 14 miles nnw. from Hamilton, had in 1840, 318 inhabi¬ 
tants ; Millville, 7 w. from Hamilton, Monroe, 12 ne., Chester, 10 
se., and Darrtown, 10 nw., had each about 200 inhabitants. Jack- 
sonburg, Miltonville, Reily and Trenton are also small villages. In 
this county are numerous ancient works, mounds, fortifications, &c. 


CARROL. 

Carrol was formed in the session of 1832-3, from Columbiana, 
Stark, Tuscarawas, Harrison and Jefferson, and named from Chas. 
Carrol, of Carrolton, Md., the last survivor of the signers of the 
Declaration of American Independence. The surface is hilly, and 
the staples are wheat, oats and corn; coal and iron abound. The 
population mainly originated from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ma¬ 
ryland, with some Germans and Irish. The following is a list of its 
townships in 1840, with their population. 








80 


CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. 


Augusta, 1234 

Brown, 2165 

Centre, 1139 

East, 995 

Fox, 1491 

The population of 
to a square mile. 


Harrison, 1308 
Lee, 1372 
Loudon, 966 
Monroe, 1060 
Orange, 1528 


Perry, 1344 

Ross, 1593 

Union, 889 

Washington, 1014 


Carrol in 1840, was 18,108, or 45 inhabitants 



View in Carrolton. 


Carrolton, the county seat, is 125 miles ene. from Columbus. It 
was originally called Centreton, but on the organization of the 
county, changed to its present name. It is rather compactly built, 
with a public square in the centre—shown in the above view—on 
which stand the county buildings. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 
Lutheran, 1 Methodist Episcopal, and 1 Associate Reformed church, 
6 mercantile stores, 2 printing offices, and 800 inhabitants. 

Leesburg, 12 miles sw. of Carrolton, has 2 churches, 3 stores, and 
about 60 dwellings. It is on One Leg, a stream so named from a 
one legged Indian who anciently dwelt upon its margin. The Indian 
name of this water course is the “ Kannoten .” The “ Dining Fork of 
the Kannoten” derived its appellation, from the first explorers in this 
region dining upon its banks. Hagerstown, lj miles east of Lees¬ 
burg, is a somewhat smaller village, having a church, 3 stores, and 
a classical academy. New Harrisburg, Malvern, Magnolia, Pekin, 
Augusta, Norristown, Lodi, Minerva, Mechanicstown and Harlem, 
are small places; at the last of which is a chalybeate spring, said to 
possess excellent medicinal qualities. 


CHAMPAIGN. 

Champaign was formed from Greene and Franklin, March 1st, 
1805, and the temporary seat of justice fixed in Springfield, at the 

























CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. 


81 


house of George Fithian : it derived its name from the character of 
its surface. About half of it is level or slightly undulating, one 
quarter rolling, one fifth rather hilly, and about five per cent, wet 
prairie, and best adapted for grazing. The county is drained by 
Mad river and its tributaries. The stream flows through a beauti¬ 
ful country, and with its tributaries furnishes extensive mill privi¬ 
leges. The soil is generally rich, and the principal crops are wheat, 
corn, oats, barley and hay: wool and beef cattle are also important 
staples. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their 
population. 


Adams, 

970 

Jackson, 1431 

Salem, 

1402 

Concord, 

935 

•Johnson, 1213 

Union, 

1249 

Goshen, 

1406 

Mad River, 1894 

Urbana, 

1386 

Harrison, 

790 

Rush, 1226 

Wayne, 

1300 


The population of Champaign in 1820, was 8,479; in 1830, 
12,137 ; and in 1840, 16,720, or 44 inhabitants to a square mile. 

Urbana, the county seat, is 42 miles wnw. from Columbus. It was 
laid out in 1805, by Col. Wm. Ward, originally from Greenbriar, 
Ya. He was proprietor of the soil, and gave a large number of the 
lots to the county, with the provision that their sales should be ap¬ 
propriated for public objects. He also named the place, from the 
word urbanity. The two first settlers were the clerk of the court, 
Joseph C. Vance, father of Ex-Gov. Vance, and George Fithian, 
who opened the first tavern in a cabin, now forming a part of the 
dwelling of Wm. Thomas, on South Main street. Samuel M’Cord 
opened the first store, in the same cabin, in March, 1806, and built, 
the same year, the first shingled house, now the store of Wm. & 
Duncan M’Donald. In 1807, a temporary court house was erected, 
now the residence of Duncan M’Donald. A brick court house was 
subsequently built on the public square, which stood many years, 
and then gave place to the present substantial and handsome build¬ 
ing. In 1807, the Methodists—those religious pioneers—built the 
first church, a log structure, which stood in the northeast part of the 
town, on the lot on which Mr. Ganson resides. Some years later, 
this denomination erected a brick church, now devoted to the man¬ 
ufacture of carriages and wagons by Mr. Childs, in the central part 
of the town. The first settlers in the village were Joseph C. Vance, 
Thos. and Ed. W. Pearce, George Fithian, Samuel M’Cord, Zeph. 
Luse, Benj. Doolittle, Geo. and Andrew Ward, Wm. H. Fyffe, Wm. 
and John Glenn, Fred. Ambrose, John Reynolds and Samuel Gibbs. 
Of those living in the county at that time, our informant recollects 
the names of Jacob Minturn, Henry and Jacob Vanmetre, Nathan¬ 
iel Cartmell, Justice Jones, Felix Rock, Thomas Anderson, Abner 
Barret, Thomas Pearce, Benj. and Wm. Cheney, Matthew and Chas. 
Stuart, Parker Sullivan, John Logan, John Thomas, John Runyon, 
John Lafferty, John Owens, John Taylor, John Guttridge, John 
Cartmell, John Dawson, John Pence, Jonathan Long, Bennet Taber, 
Nathan Fitch, Robt. Nowce, Jacob Pence and Arthur Thomas. 


82 


CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. 


The last named, Capt. Arthur Thomas, lived on King’s creek, three 
miles from Urbana. He was ordered, in the war of 1812, with his 
company, to guard the public stores at Fort Findlay. On his return, 



Public Square, Urbana. 


himself and son lost their horses, and separated from the rest of the 
company to hunt for them. They encamped at the Big Spring, 
near Solomonstown, about 5 miles north of Bellfontaine, and the 
next morning were found killed and scalped. Their bodies were 
brought into Urbana, by a deputation of citizens. On the 4th of 
July, two months previous to this event, “ The Watch Tower,” the 
first newspaper in the county was commenced at Urbana; its pub¬ 
lishers were Corwin & Blackburn. 

Urbana was a point where the main army of Hull concentrated, 
ere leaving for Detroit. They encamped in the eastern part of the' 
town, on the home-lot of Judge Elisha C. Berry. In the last war 
it was a general rendezvous for troops, before starting for the north. 
They encamped in various parts of the town. Quite a number of 
sick and disabled soldiers were sent here, some of whom died : the 
old court house was used as a hospital. 

The celebrated Simon Kenton was here at an early day. Judge Burnet in his letters, 
states, that when the troops were stationed at Urbana, a mutinous plan was formed by 
part of them to attack and destroy a settlement of friendly Indians, who had removed 
with their families within the settlement under assurance of protection. Kenton remon¬ 
strated against the measure, as being not only mutinous, but treacherous and cowardly. 
He contrasted his knowledge and experience of the Indian character with their ignorance 
of it. He vindicated them against the charge of treachery, which was alledged as a justifi¬ 
cation of the act they were about to perpetrate, and reminded them of the infamy they would 
incur by destroying a defenceless band of men, women and children, who had placed them¬ 
selves in their power, relying on a solemn promise of protection. He appealed to their hu¬ 
manity, their honor and their duty as soldiers. Having exhausted all the means of per¬ 
suasion in his power, and finding them resolved to execute their purpose, he took a rifle 
and declared with great firmness that he would accompany them to the Indian encamp¬ 
ment, and shoot down the first man who dared to molest them ; that if they entered his 
camp they should do it by passing over his corpse. Knowing that the old veteran would 
redeem his pledge, they abandoned their purpose, and the poor Indians were saved. Though 
he was as brave as Cesar, and reckless of danger when it was his duty to expose his per- 

















CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. 83 

son ; yet he was mild, even tempered, and had a heart that could bleed at the distresses of 
others. 

There were several Indian councils in Urbana, at an early day, 
which were usually held in a grove near the burying ground: dis¬ 
tinguished Shawnee and Wyandot chiefs were generally present. 
Before the settlement of the town, in the spring of 1795, Tecumseh 
was established on Deer creek, near the site of Urbana, where he 
engaged in his favorite amusement of hunting, and remained until 
the succeeding spring. His biographer gives some anecdotes of 
him, which occurred within the present limits of the county. 

While residing on Deer creek, an incident occurred, which greatly enhanced his reputa¬ 
tion as a hunter. One of his brothers, and several other Shawanoes of his own age, pro¬ 
posed to bet with him, that they could each kill as many deer, in the space of three days, 
as he could. Tecumseh promptly accepted the overture. The parties took to the woods, 
and at the end of the stipulated time, returned with the evidences of their success. None 
of the party, except Tecumseh, had more than twelve deer skins ; he brought in upwards 
of thirty—near three times as many as any of his competitors. From this time he was 
generally conceded to be the greatest hunter in the Shawanoe nation. 

In 1799, there was a council held about six miles north of the place where Urbana now 
stands, between the Indians and some of the principal settlers on Mad river, for the adjust¬ 
ment of difficulties which had grown up between these parties. Tecumseh, with other 
Shawanoe chiefs, attended this council. He appears to have been the most conspicuous 
orator of the conference, and made a speech on the occasion, which was much admired for 
its force and eloquence. The interpreter, Dechouset, said that he found it very difficult to 
translate the lofty flights of Tecumseh, although he was as well acquainted with the 
Shawanoe language, as with the French, which was his mother tongue. 

Some time during the year 1803, a stout Kentuckian came to Ohio, for the purpose of 
exploring the lands on Mad river, and lodged one night at the house of Capt. Abner Barrett, 
residing on the head waters of Buck creek. In the course of the evening, he learned, with 
apparent alarm, that there were some Indians encamped within a short distance. '>f the 
house. Shortly after hearing this unwelcome intelligence, the door of Captain Barrett’s 
dwelling was suddenly opened, and Tecumseh entered with his usual stately air: he paused 
in silence, and looked around, until at length his eye was fixed upon the stranger, who was 
manifesting symptoms of alarm, and did not venture to look the stern savage in the face. 
Tecumseh turned to his host, and pointing to the agitated Kentuckian, exclaimed, “ a big 
baby! a big baby!” He then stepped up to him, and gently slapping him on the shoulder 
several times, repeated, with a contemptuous manner, the phrase, “ big baby ! big baby !” 
to the great alarm of the astonished man, and to the amusement of all present. 

On the 22d of March, 1830, a severe tornado, proceeding from 
the sw. to the ne., passed over the northern part of Urbana. It 
demolished the Presbyterian church and several dwellings, and 
materially injured the Methodist church. Two or three children 
were carried high in air, and killed; boards, books and various 
fragments were conveyed many miles. 

Urbana is a beautiful town, and has, in its outskirts, some elegant 
private residences. The engraving is a view in its central part, 
taken from near Reynold’s store. The court house and Methodist 
church are seen in the distance. The building on the left, now 
occupied as a store by Wm. M’Donald, was, in the late war, Doo¬ 
little’s tavern, the head quarters of Governor Meigs. The one in 
front, with the date “1811,” upon it, and now the store of D. & T. 
M’Gwynne, was then a commissary office, and the building where 
Col. Richard M. Johnson was brought wounded from the battle of 
the Thames, and in which he remained several days, under a sur¬ 
geon’s care. Urbana contains 1 Associate Reformed, 1 Presbyterian, 


84 


CLARKE COUNTY. 


1 Baptist, and 1 Methodist church, 2 newspaper printing offices, 1 
woollen factory, 1 foundery, 2 machine shops and 20 mercantile 
stores. In 1840, Urbana had 1070 inhabitants, which is far below 
its present population. 

Mechanicsburg, 10 miles e. of Urbana, on the Columbus road 
and head waters of Little Darby, is a flourishing village, containing 
5 or 6 stores, 2 churches, 1 saw and 2 flour mills, a woollen fac¬ 
tory, and had, in 1840, 258 inhabitants. Addison, 16 sw., St. Paris, 
10 w., Westville, 4 w. of Urbana, and Woodstock and Lewisburg, 
in the ne. part of the county, are villages containing each from 30 
to 60 dwellings. Middletown, Carysville, Millerstown, Middleburg 
and Texas are small places. 


CLARKE. 

Clarke was formed March 1 , 1817, from Champaign, Madison 
and Greene, and named in honor of Gen. George Rogers Clarke. 
The first settlement in Clarke, was at Chribb’s station, in the forks 
of Mad river, in the spring of 1796. The inhabitants of Moore- 
field, Pleasant, Madison, German and Pike are principally of Vir¬ 
ginia extraction; Mad river, of New Jersey; Harmony, of New 
England and English; and Greene, of Pennsylvania origin. This 
county is very fertile and highly cultivated, and is well watered 
by Mad river, Buck and Beaver creeks, and their tributaries, which 
furnish a large amount of water power. Its principal products are 
wheat, corn and oats. The following is a list of its townships, in 
1840, with their population. 

Bethel, 2033 Madison, 1115 Pike, 1437 

German, 1667 Mad river, 1339 Pleasant, 1092 

Greene, 1059 Moorefield, 1073 Springfield, 4443 

Harmony, 1645 

The population of the county, in 1820, was 9,553 ; in 1830,13,074 ; 
and in 1840, 16,882, or 43 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The old Indian town of Piqua, the ancient Piqua of the Shaw- 
nees, and the birth place of Tecumseh, was situated on the north 
side of Mad river, about five miles west of Springfield, and occu¬ 
pied the site on which a small town, called West Boston, has since 
been built. Major James Galloway, of Xenia, in Drake’s life of 
Tecumseh, says: 

The principal part of Piqua stood upon a plain, rising fifteen or twenty feet above the 
river. On the south, between the village and head river, there was an extensive prairie— 
on the northeast, some bold cliffs, terminating near the river—on the west and northwest, 
level timbered land ; while on the opposite side of the stream, another prairie, of varying 
width, stretched back to the high grounds. The river sweeping by in a graceful bend— 
the precipitous, rocky cliffs—the undulating hills, with their towering trees—the prairies, 
garnished with tall grass and brilliant flowers—combined to render the situation of Piqua 
both beautiful and picturesque. At the period of its destruction, Piqua was quite populous. 
There was a rude log hut within its limits, surrounded by pickets. It was, however, sacked 



CLARKE COUNTY. 


85 


and burnt on the 8th of August, by an army of one thousand men, from Kentucky, after a 
severe and well-conducted battle with the Indians who inhabited it. All the improvements 
of the Indians, including more than two hundred acres of com and other vegetables then 
growing in their fields, were laid waste and destroyed. The town was never after re-built 
by the Shawnees. Its inhabitants removed to the Great Miami river, and erected another 
town, which they called Piqua, after the one that had just been destroyed ; and in defence 
of which they had fought with the skill and valor characteristic of their nation. 

The account appended of the destruction of Piqua by General 
George Rogers Clarke, was published twenty years since, in Brad¬ 
ford’s notes on Kentucky. 

On the 2d of August, 1780, Gen. Clarke took up the line of march from where Cin¬ 
cinnati now stands, for the Indian towns. The line of march was as follows:—the first 
division, commanded by Clarke, took the front position; the centre was occupied by ar¬ 
tillery, military stores and baggage; the second, commanded by Col. Logan, was placed 
in the rear. The men were ordered to march in four lines, at about forty yards distant 
from each other, and a line of flankers on each side, about the same distance from the right 
and left line. There was also a front and a rear guard, who only kept in sight of the main 
army. In order to prevent confusion, in case of an attack of the enemy, on the march of 
the army, a general order was issued, that in the event of an attack in front, the front was 
to stand fast, and the two right lines to wheel to the right, and the two left hand lines to 
the left, and form a complete line, while the artillery was to advance forwards to the centre 
of the line. In case of an attack on either of the flanks or side lines, these lines were to 
stand fast, and likewise the artillery, while the opposite lines wheeled and formed on the 
two extremes of those lines. In the event of an attack being made on the rear, similar 
order was to be observed as in an attack in front. 

In this manner, the army moved on without encountering any thing worthy of notice 
until they arrived at Chillicothe, (situated on the little Miami river, in Greene county,) 
about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, on the 6th day of August. They found the town not 
only abandoned, but most of the houses burnt down and burning, having been set on fire 
that morning. The army encamped on the ground that night, and on the following day 
cut down several hundred acres of corn ; and about 4 o’clock in the evening, took up their 
line of march for the Piqua towns, which were about twelve miles from Chillicothe, [in 
Clarke county.] They had not marched more than a mile from Chillicothe, before there 
came on a very heavy rain, with thunder and lightning and considerable wind. Without 
tents or any other shelter from the rain, which fell in torrents, the men were as wet as if 
they had been plunged into the river, nor had they it in their power to keep their guns dry. 
It was nearly dark before the rain ceased, when they were ordered to encamp in a hollow 
square, with the baggage and horses in the centre—and as soon as fires could be made, to 
dry their clothes, &c. They were ordered to examine their guns, and be sure they were 
in good order, to discharge them in the following manner. One company was to fire, and 
time given to re-load, when a company at the most remote part of the camp from that 
which had fired, was to discharge theirs, and so on alternately, until all the guns were fired. 
On the morning of the 8th, the army marched by sunrise, and having a level, open way, 
arrived in sight of Piqua, situated on the west side of the Mad river, about 2 o’clock, P. M. 
The Indian road from Chillicothe to Piqua, which the army followed, crossed the Mad 
river about a quarter of a mile below the town, and as soon as the advanced guard crossed 
into a prairie of high weeds, they were attacked by the Indians, who had concealed 
themselves in the weeds. The ground on which this attack, as well as the manner in 
which it was done, left no doubt but that a general engagement was intended. Col. Logan 
was therefore ordered, with about four hundred men, to file off to the right, and march up 
the river on the east side, and to continue to the upper end of the town, so as to prevent 
the Indians from escaping in that direction, while the remainder of the men, under Cols. 
Lynn, Floyd and Harrod, were ordered to cross the river and encompass the town on the 
west side, while Gen. Clarke, with the troops under Col. Shaughter, and such as were 
attached to the artillery, marched directly towards the town. The prairie in which the 
Indians were concealed, who commenced the attack, was only about two hundred yards 
across to the timbered land, and the division of the army destined to encompass the town 
on the west side, found it necessary to cross the prairie, to avoid the fire of a concealed 
enemy. The Indians evinced great military skill and judgment, and to prevent the west¬ 
ern division from executing the duties assigned them, they made a powerful effort to turn 
their left wing. This was discovered by Lloyd and Flynn, and to prevent being outflanked, 


80 


CLARKE COUNTY. 


extended the line of battle west, more than a mile from the town, and which continued 
warmly contested on both sides until about 5 o’clock, when the Indians disappeared every 
where unperceived, except a few in the town. The field piece, which had been entirely 
useless before, was now brought to bear upon the houses, when a few shot dislodged the 
Indians which were in them. 

A nephew of Gen. Clarke, who had been many years a prisoner among the Indians, 
and who attempted to come to the whites just before the close of the action, was supposed 
to be an Indian, and received a mortal wound ; but he lived several hours after he arrived 
among them. 

The morning after the battle, a Frenchman, who had been taken by the Indians a short 
time before, on the Wabash, and who had stolen away from them during the action, was 
found in the loft of one of the Indian cabins. He gave the information, that the Indians 
did not expect that the Kentuckians would reach their town on that day, and if they did 
not, it was their intention to have attacked them in the night, in their camp, with the 
tomahawk and knife, and not to fire a gun. They had intended to have made an attack 
the night before, but were prevented by the rain, and also the vigilance evinced by the 
Kentuckians, in firing off their guns and re-loading them, the reasons for which they com¬ 
prehended, when they heard the firing. Another circumstance showed that the Indians 
were disappointed in the time of their arriving ; they had not dined. When the men got 
into the town, they found a considerable quantity of provisions ready cooked, in large 
kettles and other vessels, almost untouched. The loss on each side was about equal—each 
having about 20 killed. 

The Piqua town was built in the manner of the French villages. It extended along the 
margin of the river for more than three miles; the houses, in many places, were more 
than twenty poles apart. Col. Logan, therefore, in order to surround the town on the east, 
as was his orders, marched fully three miles, while the Indians turned their whole force 
against those on the opposite side of the town ; and Logan’s party never saw an Indian 
during the whole action. The action was so severe a short time before the close, that 
Simon Girty, a white man, who had joined the Indians, and who was made a chief among 
the Mingoes, drew off three hundred of his men, declaring to them, it was folly in the 
extreme to continue the action against men who acted so much like madmen, as General 
Clarke’s men, for they rushed in the extreme of danger, with a seeming disregard of the 
consequences. This opinion of Girty, and the withdrawal of the three hundred Mingoes, 
so disconcerted the rest, that the whole body soon after dispersed. 

It is a maxim among the Indians, never to encounter a fool or a madman, (in which 
terms they include a desperate man,) for they say, with a man who has not sense enough 
to take a prudent care of his own life, the life of his antagonist is in much greater danger 
than with a prudent man. 

It was estimated that at the two Indian towns, Chillicothe and Piqua, more than five 
hundred acres of corn was destroyed, as well as every species of eatable vegetables. In 
consequence of this, the Indians were obliged, for the support of their women and children, 
to employ their whole time in hunting, w T hich gave quiet to Kentucky for a considerable 
time. 

The day after the battle, the 9th, was occupied in cutting down the growing com, and 
destroying the cabins and fort, &c., and collecting horses. On the 10th of August, the 
army began their march homeward, and encamped in Chillicothe that night, and on the 
11th, cut a field of corn, which had been left for the benefit of the men and horses, on 
their return. At the mouth of the Licking, the army dispersed, and each individual made 
his best way home. 

Thus ended a campaign, in which most of the men had no other provisions for twenty- 
five days, than six quarts of Indian corn each, except the green com and vegetables found 
at the Indian towns, and one gill of salt; and yet not a single complaint was heard to 
escape the lips of a solitary individual. All appeared to be impressed with the belief, that 
if this army should be defeated, that few wmuld be able to escape, and that the Indians * 
then would fall on the defenceless women and children in Kentucky, and destroy the 
whole. From this view of the subject, every man was determined to conquer or die. 

The late Abraham Thomas, of Miami county, was in this cam¬ 
paign against Piqua. His reminiscences, published in 1839 , in the 
Troy Times, give some interesting facts omitted in the preceding. 

It also differs, in some respects, from the other, and is probably the 
most accurate. 


CLARKE COUNTY. 


87 


In the summer of 1780, Gen. Clarke was getting up an expedition, with the object of 
destroying some Indian villages on Mad river. One division of the expedition, under Col. 
Logan, was to approach the Ohio by the way of Licking river; the other, to which I was 
attached, ascended the Ohio from the falls in boats, with provisions and a six-pound can¬ 
non. The plan of the expedition was for the two divisions to meet at a point in the 
Indian country, opposite the mouth of Licking, and thence march in a body to the interior. 
In ascending the Ohio, Daniel Boone and myself acted as spies on the Kentucky side of 
the river, and a large party, on the Indian side, was on the same duty; the latter were 
surprised by the Indians, and several killed and wounded. It was then a toilsome task to 
get the boats up the river, under constant expectation of attacks from the savages, and we 
were much rejoiced in making our destination. Before the boats crossed over to the Indian 
side, Boone and myself were taken into the foremost boat, and landed above a small cut 
in the bank, opposite the mouth of Licking. We were desired to spy through the woods 
for Indian signs. I was much younger than Boone, ran up the bank in great glee, and cut 
into a beech tree with my tomahawk, which I verily believe was the first tree cut into by 
a white man, on the present site of Cincinnati. We were soon joined by other rangers, and 
hunted over the other bottom: the forest every where was thick set with heavy beech and 
scattering underbrush of spice-wood and pawpaw. We started several deer, but seeing no 
sign of Indians, returned to the landing. By this time the men had all landed, and were 
busy in cutting timber for stockades and cabins. The division, under Col. Logan, shortly 
crossed over from the mouth of Licking, and after erecting a stockade, fort and cabin, for a 
small garrison and stores, the army started for Mad river. Our way lay over the uplands 
of an untracked, primitive forest, through which, with great labor, we cut and bridged a 
road for the accommodation of our pack horses and cannon. My duty, in the march, was to 
spy some two miles in advance of the main body. Our progress was slow, but the weather 
was pleasant, the country abounded in game ; and we saw no Indians, that I recollect, until 
we approached the waters of Mad river. In the campaigns of these days, none but the 
officers thought of tents—each man had to provide for his own comfort. Our meat was 
cooked upon sticks set up before the fire ; our beds were sought upon the ground, and he 
was the most fortunate man, that could gather small branches, leaves and bark to shield 
him from the ground, in moist places. After the lapse of so many years, it is difficult to 
recollect the details or dates, so as to mark the precise time or duration of our movements. 
But in gaining the open country of Mad river, we came in sight of the Indian villages. 
We had been kept all the night before on the march, and pushed rapidly towards the 
points of attack, and surprised three hundred Indian warriors, that had collected at the 
town, with the view of surprising and attacking us the next morning. At this place, a 
stockade fort had been reared near the village, on the side we were approaching it, but the 
Indians feared to enter it, and took post in their houses. 

The village was situated on a low prairie bottom of Mad river, between these cond bank 
and a bushy swamp piece of ground, on the margin of the river: it could be approached 
only from three points. The one our troops occupied, and from up and down the river. 
Gen. Clarke detached two divisions to secure the two last named points, while he extended 
his line to cover the first. By this arrangement, the whole body of Indians would have 
been surrounded and captured, but Col. Logan, who had charge of the lower division, be¬ 
came entangled in the swamp, and did not reach his assigned position before the attack 
commenced. The party I had joined was about entering the town, with great impetuosity, 
when Gen. Clarke sent orders for us to stop, as the Indians were making port holes in their 
cabins, and we should be in great danger, but added, he would soon make port holes for us 
both ; on that, he brought his six-pounder to bear on the village, and a discharge of grape 
shot scattered the materials of their frail dwellings in every direction. The Indians poured 
out of their cabins in great consternation, while our party, and those on the bank, rushed 
into the village, took possession of all the squaws and papooses, and killed a great many 
warriors, but most of them at the lower part of the bottom. In this skirmish, a nephew 
of Gen. Clarke, who had some time before run away from the Monongahela settlements, 
and joined the Indians, was severely wounded. He was a great reprobate, and, as said, 
was to have led the Indians in the next morning’s attack ; before he expired, he asked 
forgiveness of his uncle and countrymen. During the day, the village was burned, the 
growing corn cut down ; and the next morning we took up the line of march for the Ohio. 
This was a bloodless victory to our expedition, and the return march was attended with no 
unpleasant occurrence, save a great scarcity of provisions. On reaching the fort, on the 
Ohio, a party of us immediately crossed the river for our homes, for which we felt an ex¬ 
treme anxiety. We depended chiefly on our rifles for sustenance ; but game not being 
within reach, without giving to it more time than our anxiety and rapid progress permitted. 


88 


CLARKE COUNTY. 


we tried every expedient to hasten our journey without hunting, even to boiling green 
plums and nettles. These, at first, under sharp appetites, were quite palatable, but soon 
became*bitter and offensive. At last, in traversing the head waters of Licking, we espied 
several buffalo, directly in our track. We killed one, which supplied us bountifully with 
meat until we reached our homes. 



View at Piqua, the birth-place of Tecumseh. 

The view given was taken near the residence of Mr. John Keifer. 
The hill, shown on the left in the engraving, was the one upon 
which stood the fort, previously mentioned. About twenty-five years 
since, when the hill was first cleared and cultivated by Mr. Keifer, 
charred stumps were found around its edge, indicating the line of 
the stockade, which included a space of about two acres; the plow 
of Mr. Keifer brought up various relics, as skeletons, beads, gun- 
barrels, tomahawks, camp kettles, &c. Other relics led to the sup¬ 
position that there was a store of a French trader destroyed at the 
time of the action at the south-western base of the hill. When 
the country was first settled, there were two white oak trees in the 
village of Boston, which had been shot off some fifteen or twenty 
feet from the ground, by the cannon balls of Clarke; their tops 
showed plainly the curved lines of the balls, around which they had 
sprouted bush-like; these trees were felled many years since by the 
Bostonians for fuel. There is a tradition here, that during the ac¬ 
tion, the Indians secreted their squaws and children in “ the cliffs” 
about a mile up the stream from the fort. The village of Boston, 
we will observe in digression, was once the competitor with Spring- 
field for the county seat; it never had but a few houses, and now 
has three or four only: one of them is shown on the right of the 
view, beyond which, a few rods only, is Mad river. 

We subjoin a sketch of the life of Tecumseh, derived from Drake’s 
memoir of this celebrated chief: 

Puckeshinwa, the father of Tecumseh, was a member of the Kiscopoke, and Methoa- 
taske, the mother, of the Turtle tribe of the Shawanoe nation ; they removed from Florida 
to Ohio about the middle of the last century. The father rose to the rank of a chief, and 
fell at the battle of Point Pleasant, in 1774. After his death, his wffe returned to the 
south, where she died, at an advanced age. Tecumseh was born at Piqua, about the year 
1768, and like Napoleon, in his boyish pastimes, showed a passion for war ; he was 
the acknowledged leader among his companions, by whom he was loved and respected, 
and over whom he exercised an unbounded influence; it is stated that the first battle in 
which he was, occurred on the site of Dayton, between a party of Kentuckians under Col. 











CLARKE COUNTY. 


89 


Benjamin Logan, and some Shawanoes. When about 17 years of age, he manifested sig¬ 
nal prowess, in an attack on some boats on the Ohio, near Limestone, Ky. The boats 
were all captured, and all in them killed, except one person, who was burnt alive. Te- 
cumseh was a silent spectator, never having before witnessed the burning of a prisoner; 
after it was over, he expressed his strong abhorrence of the act, and by his eloquence per¬ 
suaded his party never to burn any more prisoners. 

From this time his reputation as a brave, and his influence over 
other minds, increased, and he rose rapidly in popularity among his 
tribe; he was in several actions with the whites prior to Wayne’s 
treaty, among which was the attack on Fort Recovery, and the bat¬ 
tle of the Fallen Timbers. In the summer of 1795, Tecumseh be¬ 
came a chief; from the spring of this year until that of 1796, he 
resided on Deer Creek, near the site of Urbana, and from whence 
he removed to the vicinity of Piqua, on the Great Miami. In 1798, 
he accepted the invitation of the Delawares, then residing in part 
on White river, Indiana, to remove to that neighborhood with his 
followers. He continued in that vicinity a number of years, and 
gradually extended his influence among the Indians. 

In 1805, through the influence of Laulewasikaw, the brother of 
Tecumseh, a large number of Shawanoes established themselves 
at Greenville, Very soon after, Laulewasikaw assumed the office 
of a prophet; and forthwith commenced that career of cunning 
and pretended sorcery, which enabled him to sway the Indian 
mind in a wonderful degree. 

Throughout the year 1806, the brothers remained at Greenville, and were visited by 
many Indians from different tribes, not a few of whom became their followers. The Pro¬ 
phet dreamed many wonderful dreams, and claimed to have had many supernatural revela¬ 
tions made to him ; the great eclipse of the sun which occurred in the summer of this 
year, a knowledge of which he had by some means attained, enabled him to carry convic¬ 
tion to the minds of many of his ignorant followers, that he was really the earthly agent 
of the Great Spirit. He boldly announced to the unbelievers, that on a certain day, he 
would give them proof of his supernatural powers, by bringing darkness over the sun; 
when the day and hour of the eclipse arrived, and the earth, evert at mid-day, was shrouded 
in the gloom of twilight, the Prophet, standing in the midst of his party, significantly pointed 
to the heavens, and cried out, “ did I not prophecy truly ? Behold! darkness has shrouded 
the sun !” It may readily be supposed that this striking phenomenon, thus adroitly used, 
produced a strong impression on the Indians, and greatly increased their belief in the sa¬ 
cred character of their Prophet. 

The alarm caused by the assembling of the Indians still continu¬ 
ing, Gov. Harrison, in the autumn of 1807, sent to the head chiefs 
of the Shawanoe tribe, an address, in which he exhorted them to 
send away the people at Greenville, whose conduct was foreshadow¬ 
ing evil to the whites. To the appeal of the governor, the prophet 
made a cunning and evasive answer; it made no change in the 
measures of this artful man, nor did it arrest the spread of fanati¬ 
cism among the Indians, which his incantations had produced. 

In the spring of 1808, Tecumseh and the prophet removed to a 
tract of land on the Tippecanoe, a tributary of the Wabash, where 
the latter continued his efforts to induce the Indians to forsake their 
vicious habits, while Tecumseh was visiting the neighboring tribes 
and quietly strengthening his own and the prophet’s influence over 
them. The events of the early part of the year 1810, were such as 
to leave but little doubt of the hostile intentions of the brothers; 

12 


90 


CLARKE COUNTY, 


the Prophet was apparently the most prominent actor, while Tecum- 
seh was in reality the main spring of all the movements, backed, it 
is supposed, by the insidious influence of British agents, who sup¬ 
plied the Indians gratis with powder and ball, in anticipation, per¬ 
haps, of hostilities between the two countries, in which event an 
union of all the tribes against the Americans was desirable. By 
various acts the feelings of Tecumseh became more and more evi¬ 
dent ; in August, he having visited Vincennes to see the governor, 
a council was held, at which, and a subsequent interview, the real 
position of affairs was ascertained. 

Governor Harrison had made arrangements for holding the council on the portico of 
his own house, which had been fitted up with seats for the occasion. Here, on the morn¬ 
ing of the fifteenth, he awaited the arrival of the chief, being attended by the Judges of 
the Supreme Court, some officers of the army, a sergeant and twelve men, from Fort 
Knox, and a large number of citizens. At the appointed hour, Tecumseh, supported by 
forty of his principal warriors, made his appearance, the remainder of his followers being 
encamped in the village and its environs. When the chief had approached within thirty 
or forty yards of the house, he suddenly stopped, as if awaiting some advances from the 
governor ; an interpreter was sent, requesting him and his followers to take seats on the 
portico. To this Tecumseh objected—he did not think the place a suitable one for holding 
the conference, but preferred that it should take place in a grove of trees—to which he 
pointed—standing a short distance from the house. The governor said he had no objec¬ 
tion to the grove, except that there were no seats in it for their accommodation. Tecum¬ 
seh replied, that constituted no objection to the grove, the earth being the most suitable 
place for the Indians, who loved to repose upon the bosom of their mother. The governor 
yielded the point, and the benches and chairs having been removed to the spot, the confer¬ 
ence was begun, the Indians being seated on the grass. 

Tecumseh opened the meeting by stating, at length, his objections to the treaty of Fort 
Wayne, made by Governor Harrison, in the previous year ; and in the course of his speech 
boldly avowed the principle of his party to be that of resistance to every cession of land, 
unless made by all the tribes, who, he contended, formed but one nation. He admitted 
that he had threatened to kill the chiefs who signed the treaty of Fort Wayne, and that it 
was his fixed determination not to permit the village chiefs, in future, to manage their af¬ 
fairs, but to place the power with which they had been heretofore invested, in the hands of 
the war chiefs. The Americans, he said, had driven the Indians from the sea-coast, and 
would soon push them into the lakes ; and, while he disclaimed all intention of making 
war upon the United States, he declared it to be his unalterable resolution to take a stand, 
and resolutely oppose the further intrusion of the whites upon the Indian lands. He con¬ 
cluded, by making a brief but impassioned recital of the various wrongs and aggressions 
inflicted by the white men upon the Indians, from the commencement of the revolution¬ 
ary war down to the period of that council; all of which was calculated to arouse and 
inflame the minds of such of his followers as were present. 

The governor rose in reply, and in examining the right of Tecumseh and his party to 
make objections to the treaty of Fort Wayne, took occasion to say that the Indians were 
not one nation, having a common property in the lands. The Miamis, he contended, were 
the real owners of the tract on the Wabash, ceded by the late treaty, and the Shawanoes 
had no right to interfere in the case; that upon the arrival of the whites on this continent, 
they had found the Miamis in possession of this land, the Shawanoes being then residents 
of Georgia, from which they had been driven by the Creeks, and that it was ridiculous to 
assert that the red men constituted but one nation ; for, if such had been the intention of 
the Great Spirit, he would not have put different tongues in their heads, but have taught 
them all to speak the same language. 

The governor having taken his seat, the interpreter commenced explaining the speech 
to Tecumseh, who, after listening to a portion of it, sprung to his feet and began to speak 
with great vehemence of manner. 

The governor was surprised at his violent gestures, but as he did not understand him, 
thought he was making some explanation, and suffered his attention to be drawn towards 
Winnemac, a friendly Indian lying on the grass before him, who was renewing the priming 
of his pistol, which he had kept concealed from the other Indians, but in full view of the 
governor. His attention, however, was again directed towards Tecumseh, by hearing 


CLARKE COUNTY. 


91 


General Gibson, who was intimately acquainted with the Shawanoe language, say to lieu¬ 
tenant Jennings, “ those fellows intend mischief; you had better bring up the guard.” At 
that moment, the followers of Tecumseh seized their tomahaws and war clubs, and sprung 
upon their feet, their eyes turned upon the governor. As soon as he could disengage him¬ 
self from the armed chair in which he sat, he rose, drew a small sword which he had by 
his side, and stood on the defensive. Captain G. R. Floyd, of the army, who stood near 
him, drew a dirk, and the chief Winnemac cocked his pistol. The citizens present were 
more numerous than the Indians, but were unarmed ; some of them procured clubs and 
brick-bats, and also stood on the defensive. The Rev. Mr. Winans, of the Methodist 
church, ran to the governor’s house, got a gun, and posted himself at the door to defend 
the family. During this singular scene, no one spoke, until the guard came running up, 
and appearing to be in the act of firing, the governor ordered them not to do so. He then 
demanded of the interpreter an explanation of what had happened, who replied that Te¬ 
cumseh had interrupted him, declaring that all the governor had said was false, and that 
he and the Seventeen Fires had cheated and imposed on the Indians. The governor then 
told Tecumseh that he was a bad man, and that he would hold no further communication 
with him; that as he had come to Vincennes under ttie protection of a council-fire, he 
might return in safety, but that he must immediately leave the village. Here the council 
terminated. 

The undoubted purpose of the brothers now being known, Gov. 
Harrison proceeded to prepare for the contest he knew must ensue. 
In June of the year following, (1811,) he sent a message to the 
Shawanoes, bidding them beware of hostilities, to which Tecumseh 
gave a brief reply, promising to visit the governor. This visit he 
paid in July, accompanied by 300 followers, but as the Americans 
were prepared and determined, nothing resulted, and Tecumseh 
proceeded to the south, as it was supposed, to enlist the Creeks in 
the cause. 

In the meanwhile, Harrison took measures to increase his regular 
force ; his plan was to again warn the Indians to obey the treaty of 
Greenville, but at the same time to prepare to break up the prophet’s 
establishment, if necessary. On the 5th of October, having received 
his reinforcements, he was on the Wabash, about 60 miles above 
Vincennes, where he built Fort Harrison. On the 7th of Novem¬ 
ber following, he was attacked by the Indians at Tippecanoe, and 
defeated them. Peace on the frontiers was one of the happy results 
of this severe and brilliant action. 

With the battle of Tippecanoe, the prophet lost his popularity 
and power among the Indians, he having, previously to the battle, 
promised them certain victory. 

On the first commencement of the war of 1812, Tecumseh was 
in the field, prepared for the conflict. In July, there was an assem¬ 
blage at Brownstown of those Indians who were inclined to neu¬ 
trality. A deputation was sent to Malden to Tecumseh to attend 
this council. “ No,” said he indignantly, “ I have taken sides with 
the king, my father, and I will suffer my bones to bleach upon this 
shore, before I will recross that stream to join in any council of neu¬ 
trality.” He participated in the battle of Brownstown, and com¬ 
manded the Indians in the action near Maguaga. In the last he 
was wounded, and it is supposed that his bravery and good conduct 
led to his being shortly after appointed Brigadier General in the 
service of the British King. In the seige of Fort Meigs, Tecumseh 
behaved with great bravery and humanity. (See Wood co.) 


92 


CLARKE COUNTY. 


Immediately after the signal defeat of Proctor, at Fort Stephen¬ 
son, he returned with the British troops to Malden by water, while 
Tecumseh, with his followers, passed over by land, round the head 
of Lake Erie, and joined him at that point. Discouraged by the 
want of success, and having lost all confidence in Gen. Proctor, Te¬ 
cumseh seriously meditated a withdrawal from the contest, but was 
induced to remain. 

When Perry’s battle was fought, it was witnessed by the Indians from the distant shore. 
On the day succeeding the engagement, Gen. Proctor said to Tecumseh, “ my fleet has 
whipped the Americans, but the vessels being much injured, have gone into Put-in Bay to 
refit, and will be here in a few days.” This deception, however, upon the Indians was not 
of long duration. The sagacious eye of Tecumseh soon perceived indications of a retreat 
from Malden, and he promptly inquired into the matter. Gen. Proctor informed him that 
he was only going to send their valuable property up the Thames, where it would meet a 
reinforcement, and be safe. Tecumseh, however, was not to be deceived by this shallow 
device ; and remonstrated most urgently against a retreat. He finally demanded, in the 
name of all the Indians under his command, to be heard by the general, and, on the 18th 
of September, delivered to him, as the representative of their great father, the king, the 
following speech:— 

“ Father, listen to your children! you have them now all before you. 

“ The war before this, our British father gave the hatchet to his red children, when our old 
chiefs were alive. They are now dead. In that war our father was thrown upon his back 
by the Americans; and our father took them by the hand without our knowledge ; and we 
are afraid that our father will do so again at this time. 

“ Summer before last, when I came forward with my red brethren and was ready to take 
up the hatchet in favor of our British father, we were told not to be in a hurry, that he had 
not yet determined to fight the Americans. 

“ Listen! when war was declared, our father stood up and gave us the tomahawk, and 
told us that he was then ready to strike the Americans; that he wanted our assistance, and 
that he would certainly get our lands back, which the Americans had taken from us. 

“ Listen! you told us at that time, to bring forward our families to this place, and we 
did so; and you promised to take care of them, and they should want for nothing, while 
the men would go and fight the enemy; that we need not trouble ourselves about the ene¬ 
my’s garrisons; that we knew nothing about them, and that our father would attend to 
that part of the business. You also told your red children that you would take good care 
of your garrison here, which made our hearts glad. 

“ Listen! when we were last at the Rapids, it is true we gave you little assistance. It 
is hard to fight people who live like ground-hogs. 

“ Father, listen! our fleet has gone out; we know they have fought; we have heard the 
great guns ; but we know nothing of what has happened to our father with one arm. Our 
ships have gone one way, and we are much astonished to see our father tying up every 
thing and preparing to run away the other, without letting his red children know what his 
intentions are. You always told us to remain here and take care of our lands; it made 
our hearts glad to hear that was your wish. Our great father, the king, is the head, and 
you represent him. You always told us you would never draw your foot off British ground; 
but now, father, we see that you are drawing back, and we are sorry to see our father do¬ 
ing so without seeing the enemy. We must compare our father’s conduct to a fat dog, 
that carries his tail on its back, and when affrighted, drops it between its legs and runs off. 

“ Father, listen! the Americans have not yet defeated us by land ; neither are we sure 
that they have done so by water ; we, therefore, wish to remain here and fight our enemy, 
should they make their appearance. If they defeat us, we will then retreat with our father. 

“ At the battle of the Rapids, last war, the Americans certainly defeated us ; and when 
we returned to our father’s fort at that place, the gates were shut against us. We were 
afraid that it would now be the case ; but instead of that, we now see our British father 
preparing to march out of his garrison. 

“ Father, you have got the arms and ammunition which our great father sent for his red 
children. If you have an idea of going away, give them to us, and you may go and wel¬ 
come, for us. Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are determined to de¬ 
fend our lands, and if it be his will, we wish to leave our bones upon them.” 

Tecumseh entered the battle of the Thames with a strong conviction that he should not 
survive it. Further flight he deemed disgraceful, while the hope of victory in the impending 


CLARKE COUNTY. 


03 


action, was feeble and distant. He, however, heroically resolved to achieve the latter or 
die in the effort. With this determination he took his stand among his followers, raised the 
war-cry and boldly met the enemy. From the commencement of the attack on the Indian 
line, his voice was distinctly heard by his followers, animating them to deeds worthy of the 
race to which they belonged. When that well-known voice was heard no longer above the 
din of arms, the battle ceased. The British troops having already surrendered, and the gallant 
leader of the Indians having fallen, they gave up the contest and fled. A short distance 
from where Tecumseh fell, the body of his friend and brother-in-law, Wasegoboah, was 
found. They had often fought side by side, and now, in front of their men, bravely bat¬ 
tling the enemy, they side by side closed their mortal career. 

“ Thus fell the Indian warrior Tecumseh, in the 44th year of his age. He was of the 
Shawanoe tribe, five feet ten inches high, and with more than the usual stoutness, possessed 
all the agility and perseverance of the Indian character. His carriage was dignified, his eye 
penetrating, his countenance, which even in death, betrayed the indications of a lofty 
spirit, rather of the sterner cast. Had he not possessed a certain austerity of manners, he 
could never have controlled the wayward passions of those who followed him to battle. 
He was of a silent habit; but when his eloquenee became roused into action by the reiterated 
encroachments of the Americans, his strong intellect could supply him with a flow of ora¬ 
tory that enabled him, as he governed in the field, so to prescribe in the council. Those 
who consider that in all territorial questions, the ablest diplomatists of the United States 
are sent to negotiate with the Indians, will readily appreciate the loss sustained by the lat¬ 
ter in the death of their champion.Such a man was the unlettered sav¬ 

age, Tecumseh, and such a man have the Indians lost forever. He has left a son, who, 
when his father fell, was about seventeen years old, and fought by his side. The prince 
regent, in 1814, out of respect to the memory of the old, sent out as a present to the young 
Tecumseh, a handsome sword. Unfortunately, however, for the Indian cause and country, 
faint are the prospects that Tecumseh the son, will ever equal, in wisdom or prowess, Te¬ 
cumseh the father.” 

It is stated by Mr. James, a British historian, that Tecumseh, after 
he fell, was not only scalped, but that his body was actually flayed, 
and the skin converted into razor-straps by the Kentuckians. Amid 
the great amount of conflicting testimony relating to the circum¬ 
stances of Tecumseh’s death, it is extremely difficult, if not impossi¬ 
ble, to ascertain the precise facts. It is, however, generally be¬ 
lieved that he fell by a pistol-shot, fired by Col. Richard M. Johnson 
of Kentucky, who acted a most prominent part in this battle. 

Springfield, the county seat, is 43 miles w. of Columbus, on the 
National road, and on the line of the railroads connecting Cincinnati 
with Sandusky city. It was laid out in 1803, by James Demint. 
It is surrounded by a handsome and fertile country, is noted for the 
morality and intelligence of its inhabitants, and, by many, is consid¬ 
ered the most beautiful village within the limits of Ohio. The east¬ 
ern fork of Mad river washes it on the north, a stream described “ as 
unequalled for fine mill seats, its current very rapid, and the water 
never so low in the driest season as to interfere with the mills now 
upon it.” Through the place runs the Lagonda , or Buck creek, a 
swift and unfailing mill stream. Within a range of three miles of the 
town are upwards of twenty mill seats. Springfield suffered much 
during the era of speculation, but is now prospering, and from its nat¬ 
ural advantages, is destined to hold a prominent place among the 
manufacturing towns of the state. The engraving shows its appear¬ 
ance as viewed from the National road, a quarter of a mile east; 
the main street appears in front, on the left the academy, and on the 
right the court house, and one of the churches. The view is from 
a familiar position, but the village, like many other beautiful towns, 



94 


CLARKE COUNTY. 


is so situated that no drawing from any one point can show it to 
advantage. 



Several of ':he first settlers of Springfield still remain in and 
around it; among them may be mentioned the names of John 
Humphreys, David Lowry and Griffeth Foos, the last of whom oc¬ 
cupied the first house built in the town as a tavern. 

The Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church has a 
flourishing high school at Springfield, for both sexes. A lyceum 
has been in successful operation about fourteen years, and the pub¬ 
lic libraries of the town comprise about 4000 volumes. Spring- 
field contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Methodist 
Protestant, 1 Episcopal, 1 Associate Reformed Presbyterian, 1 Bap¬ 
tist, 1 Lutheran, 1 Universalist, and 1 African Methodist church; 2 
or 3 printing offices ; 3 drug, 1 book, 1 hardware, and 15 dry good 
stores; 1 paper, 1 oil, and 3 flouring mills ; 1 cotton, 1 woolen, and 
1 sash factory; 1 foundery and machine shop ; and in 1830, had a 
population of 1080; in 1840, 2094; in 1846, 2952; and in 1847, 
about 3500. 

Springfield was the scene of an interesting incident in the life of 
Tecumseh, which is given at length by his biographer. 

In the autumn of this year, [1807,] a white man by the name of Myers, was killed a 
few miles west of where the town of Urbana now stands, by some straggling Indians. 
This murder, taken in connection with the assemblage of the Indians under Tecumseh and 
the prophet, created a great alarm on the frontier, and actually induced many families to 
remove back to Kentucky, from whence they had emigrated. A demand was made by 
the whites upon these two brothers for the Indians who had committed the murder. 
They denied that it was done by their party, or with their knowledge, and declared 
that they did not even know who the murderers were. The alarm continued, and some 
companies of militia were called out. It was finally agreed, that a council should be 
held on the subject in Springfield, for the purpose of quieting the settlements. Gen. White- 
man, Maj. Moore, Capt. Ward, and one or two others, acted as commissioners on the part 
of the whites. Two parties of Indians attended the council; one from the north, in charge 
of McPherson; the other, consisting of sixty or seventy, came from the neighborhood of 
Fort Wayne, under the charge of Tecumseh. Roundhead, Blackfish, and several other 
chiefs, were also present. There was no friendly feeling between these two parties, and 
each was willing that the blame of the murder should be fixed upon the other. The party 
under McPherson, in compliance with the wishes of the commissioners, left their arms a 




























































































































































































QLARKH COUNTY. 


05 


few miles from Springfield. Tecumseh and his party refused to attend the council, unless 
permitted to retain their arms. After the conference was opened, it being held in a maple 
grove, a little north of where Werden’s hotel now stands, the commissioners, fearing some 
violence, made another effort to induce Tecumseh to lay aside his arms. This he again 
refused, saying, in reply, that his tomahawk was also his pipe, and that he might wish to 
use it in that capacity before their business was closed. At this moment, a tall, lank-sided 
Pennsylvanian, who was standing among the spectators, and who, perhaps, had no love 
for the shining tomahawk of the self-willed chief, cautiously approached, and handed him 
an old, long stemmed, dirty looking earthen pipe, intimating, that if Tecumseh would de¬ 
liver up the fearful tomahawk, he might smoke the aforesaid pipe. The chief took it be¬ 
tween his thumb and finger, held it up, looked at it for a moment, then at the owner, who 
was gradually receding from the point of danger, and immediately threw it, with an in¬ 
dignant sneer, over his head, into the bushes. The commissioners yielded the point, and 
proceeded to business. 

After a full and patient inquiry into the facts of the case, it appeared that the murder of 
Myers was the act of an individual, and not justly chargeable upon either party of the In¬ 
dians. Several speeches were made by the chiefs, but Tecumseh was the principal speaker. 
He gave a full explanation of the views of the prophet and himself, in calling around them 
a band of Indians—disavowed all hostile intentions towards the United States, and denied 
that he or those under his control had committed any aggressions upon the whites. His 
manner, when speaking, was animated, fluent and rapid, and made a strong impression 
upon those present. The council terminated. In the course of it, the two hostile parties 
became reconciled to each other, and quiet was restored to the frontier. 

The Indians remained in Springfield for three days, and on severa 1 occasions amused 
themselves by engaging in various games and other athletic exercises, in which Tecumseh 
generally proved himself victorious. His strength, and power of muscular action were 
remarkably great, and in the opinion of those who attended the council, corresponded with 
the high order of his moral and intellectual character. 



Wittemberg College. 

“ Wittemberg College is organized on a large, and liberal pros¬ 
pective scale, and on the same basis as Yale College, Ct., having 
both a collegiate and theological department, under the same Board 
and Faculty. It is under the auspices of the Lutheran church, and 
was chartered in 1845. Arrangements are made for six professor¬ 
ships. It is located about a third of a mile from Springfield, on 
beautiful forest grounds, containing 24 acres, surrounded with springs 
of the best water, and with the most charming scenery. The town, 
railroad, Buck creek, and Mad river are in view from the building. 
The institution is under the superintendence of Rev. Ezra Keller, 
D. D., assisted by competent instructors. It has now been in opera¬ 
tion for one year, and has had 72 students connected with it. A 






96 


CLERMONT COUNTY. 


freshman and sophomore class has been formed. An Athmneum, and 
two literary societies have also been established. A general library, 
philosophical apparatus, and cabinet of natural and artificial curi¬ 
osities have been begun. The German is taught as a living lan¬ 
guage. Tuition and boarding are furnished on very moderate 
terms. The government of the institution is made as nearly as 
possible to that of a well-regulated family.” 

New Carlisle, 12 miles west of Springfield, is a flourishing village, 
in a beautiful and fertile country. It contains 2 Presbyterian, 1 
Methodist, and 1 Free or Union church, 6 stores, an extensive coach 
factory, a fine brick school house, and by the census of 1840, has 
452 inhabitants. South Charleston, 12 miles se. from Springfield, 
on the Xenia and Jefferson turnpike, has 2 churches, several stores, 
and had in 1840, 240 inhabitants, since which it has much increased. 
Enon, on the Dayton turnpike, 7 miles from Springfield, has 2 
churches, several stores, and about 60 dwellings: on the outskirts 
of this town is a beautiful mound, 30 or 40 feet in height. North 
Hampton, Tremont, Vienna, Donaldsville, Brighton, Harmony, No- 
blesville, Catawba, and Cortsville, are small villages. (See Addenda.) 


CLERMONT. 


Clermont, the 8th county, created in the North-west Territory, 
was formed Dec. 9th, 1800, by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair. 
The name was probably derived from Clermont, in France. The 
surface is generally rolling and quite broken near the Ohio: in 
the northeast, there is much “ wet land.” A large portion of the 
soil is rich. The geological formation is the blue fossiliferous lime¬ 
stone, interstratified with clay marl, and covered, in most places, 
with a rich vegetable mould. The principal crops are corn, wheat, 
oats, hay, potatoes, tobacco, barley, buckwheat and rye ; the prin¬ 
cipal exports are beef, pork, flour, hay and whiskey. It is well 
watered, and the streams furnish considerable water power. The 
following is a list of its townships, in 1840, with their population. 


Batavia, 

Franklin, 

Goshen, 

Jackson, 

Miami, 


2197 

2219 

1445 

883 

2061 


Monroe, 1617 
Ohio, 2894 

Stonelick, 1478 
Tate, 2292 


Union, 1421 

Washington, 2102 
Wayne, 976 

Williamsburgh, 1459 


The population of Clermont, m 1820, was 15,820; in 1830,20,466; 
and in 1840, 20,029, or 40 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The communication below, from Mr. Benjamin Morris, gives some 
facts respecting the history of the county and its early settlers. 


In June, 1804, and in the 19th year of my age, I came to Bethel, which, with Williams¬ 
burgh, were the only towns in the county. They were laid out about 1798 or ’99, and 
were competitors for the county seat. When I came, Clermont was an almost unbroken 
•wilderness, and the settlers few and far between. In the language of the day, there was 



CLERMONT COUNTY. 


97 


Denham’s town, now Bethel; Lytlestown, now Williamsburgh; Witham’s settlement, 
now Williamsville ; Apples’, Collins’, and Buchanan’s settlements. The following are 
names of part of the settlers in and about Williamsburgh, in 1804:—Wm. Lytle, R. W. 
Waring, David C. Bryan, James and Daniel Kain, Nicholas Sinks, Jasper Shotwell, and 
Peter Light. Wm. Lytle was the first clerk of the county, and was succeeded by R. W. 
Waring and David C. Bryan. Peter Light was a justice of the peace under the territorial 
and state governments, and county surveyor. Daniel Kain was sheriff, and later justice of 
the peace under the state government. David C. Bryan represented the county several 
years in the state legislature, before he was appointed clerk. I was at Williamsburgh at 
the sitting of the court of common pleas in June, 1804. Francis Dunleavy was the presi¬ 
ding judge, and Philip Gatch, Ambrose Ransom, and John Wood, associates, while the 
attendant lawyers were Jacob Burnet, Arthur St. Clair—son of Gov. St. Clair—Joshua 
Collet, Martin Marshall and Thomas Morris. 

The following are part of the settlers in and about Bethel, in 1804: Obed Denham— 
proprietor of the town—James Denham, Houton Clark, John Baggess, Dr. Loofborough, 
John and Thomas Morris, Jeremiah Beck, Henry Willis and James South. John Bag¬ 
gess for many years was a representative in the legislature, justice of the peace and county 
surveyor. John Morris was appointed associate judge after the death of Judge Wood, in 
1807 ; he was also justice of the peace, and one of the first settlers at Columbia. Houton 
Clark was one of the first, if not the very first, justice of the peace in Clermont. Thomas 
Morris practised law in the county about forty years, was a representative in the legisla¬ 
ture, and once appointed a judge of the supreme court. In the winter of 1832-33, he 
was elected to the United States Senate, where he acted a conspicueus part in the anti¬ 
slavery movements of the day. The most prominent political act of his life, was his reply 
to a speech of Mr. Clay. He died suddenly, Dec. 7th, 1844: posterity only can judge 
of the correctness or incorrectness of his course. A neat marble monument marks his 
resting place, near Bethel. Jeremiah Beck and Henry Willis were farmers and justices of 
the peace. Ulrey’s Run takes its name from Jacob Ulrey, who settled on its west side in 
1798, and was the earliest settler upon it. The place is now known as “ the Ulrey farm.” 
Bred in the wilds of Pennsylvania, he was a genuine backwoodsman, and a terror to the 
horse thieves, who infested the county at an early day. Deer and bear were plenty around 
him, and a large portion of his time was passed in hunting them, for their skins. The 
early settlers around him received substantial tokens of his generosity, by his supplying 
them with meat. 

The first newspaper in Clermont, “ The Political Censor,” was printed at Williamsburg, 
in 1813 : it was edited by Thos. S. Foot, Esq.; the second, called “ The Western Amer¬ 
ican,” was printed in the same town, in 1814: David Morris, Esq., editor. 

A considerable number of the early settlers in Clermont, were from Kentucky. Of those 
before named, the following were from that state:—R. W. Waring, Jasper Shotwell,Peter 
Light, Obed and James Denham, Houton Clark, John Boggess, Jeremiah Beck, Henry 
Willis and James South. Nicholas Sinks was from Va.; David C. Bryan, from New Jer¬ 
sey, and John and Thomas Morris and the Kain family, (I believe,) from Pa. After 1804, 
the county increased rapidly by settlers from New Jersey, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, 
with some from Maryland, New England, and a few from North Carolina. 

Neville was laid out in 1811, Gen. Neville, proprietor. Point Pleasant and New Rich¬ 
mond were laid out about 1814; Jacob Light, proprietor of the latter. George Ely laid 
out Batavia afterwards. The early settlers about that place, as well as I remember, were 
George Ely, Ezekiel Dimmit, Lewis Duckwall, Henry Miley, Robert and James Townsley, 
Titus Everhart and Wm. Patterson. Before Milford was laid out, Philip Gatch, Ambrose 
Ransom and John Pollock settled in its vicinity. Philip Gatch was a member from Cler¬ 
mont, of the convention which formed the state constitution, and for years after was asso¬ 
ciate judge. Ransom, as before stated, was associate judge ; and John Pollock, for many 
years speaker of the house of representatives, and later, associate judge. Philip Gatch was 
a Virginian. He freed his slaves before emigrating, which circumstance led to his being 
selected as a member of the convention to form the state constitution. 

The most prominent settlers in the south part of Clermont, were the Sargeant, Pigman, 
Prather, Buchanan and Fee families. The oldest members of the Sargeant family, were 
the brothers James, John and Elijah. They were from Maryland. James, who had freed 
his slaves there, was, in consequence, chosen a member of the convention which formed 
the state constitution. The Sargeants, who are now numerous in this part of the county, 
are uncompromising opponents of slavery. The Pigman family were Joshua, sen., Joshua, 
jr., and Levi. The Buchanan family were William, Alexander, Robert, Andrew, James, 
John &c. James Buchanan, the son of John, was at one time speaker of the Ohio house 

13 


98 


CLERMONT COUNTY. 


of representatives. The Buchanans were from Pennsylvania, and the Pigmans from Mary¬ 
land. There were several brothers of the Fee family, from Pennsylvania. William, the 
most prominent, was the proprietor of Felicity, and a member of the legislature. His 
brothers were Thomas, Elisha and Elijah; other early settlers were Samuel Walrioen, 
James Daughters and Elijah Larkin, who has been postmaster at Neville, for more than 
a quarter of a century. In the vicinity of Withamsville, the early settlers were Nathaniel 
and Gideon Witham, James Ward, Shadrach, Robert and Samuel Lane. The Methodists 
were the most numerous in early times, and next, the Baptists; there were but a few Pres¬ 
byterians among the first settlers. 

When I first came into the county, the “ wet land,” of which there is such a large pro¬ 
portion in the middle and northern part, was considered almost worthless; but a great 
change has taken place in public opinion in relation to its value. It is ascertained, that by 
judicious cultivation, it rapidly improves in fertility. At that time, these lands were cov¬ 
ered by water more than half the summer, and we called them slashes: now the water 
leaves the surface in the woods, early in the spring. Forty years ago, the evenings were 
cool as soon as the sun went down. I have no recollection of warm nights, for many 
years after I came, and their coolness was a matter of general remark among the emi¬ 
grants from the old states. I believe it was owing to the immense forests that covered the 
country, and shut out the rays and heat of the sun from the surface of the ground, for after 
sunset there was no warm earth to impart heat to the atmosphere. 

Batavia, the county seat, is situated on the north bank of the east 
fork of the Little Miami river, 21 miles easterly from Cincinnati, 
and 103 sw. of Columbus. This town was laid out about the year 



County Buildings, Batavia. 


1820, by George Ely. About that time, the county seat was tem¬ 
porarily removed from Williamsburg to New Richmond, and Feb. 
21st, 1824, permanently transferred to Batavia. It contains 1 Pres¬ 
byterian and 1 Methodist church, 4 stores, 2 newspaper printing 
offices, and had, by the census of 1840, 537 inhabitants. 

Williamsburg is on the east fork of the Miami, 7 miles east of 
Batavia, and had, in 1840, 385 inhabitants. As previously men¬ 
tioned, it was laid out by Gen. William Lytle, one of the earliest 
settlers of Clermont. His life was one of much incident. We de¬ 
rive the annexed facts respecting him, from Cist’s Advertiser. 

Gen. Wm, Lytle was born in Cumberland, Pa.; and in 1779, his family emigrated to 
Kentucky. Previous to the settlement of Ohio, young Lytle was in several desperate en¬ 
gagements with the Indians, where his cool, heroic bravery won general admiration. 
Before the treaty of Greenville, while making surveys in the Virginia military district, in 
Ohio, he was exposed to incessant dangers, suffered great privations, and was frequently 
attacked by the Indians. This business he followed for the greater portion of his life. In 















CLERMONT COUNTY. 


99 


the war of 1812, he was appointed Major General of Ohio militia, and, in 1829, surveyor 
general of the public lands of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. In 1810, Gen. Lytle removed 
from Williamsburg to Cincinnati, where he died, in 1831. As a citizen, he was distin¬ 
guished for public spirit and benevolence, and in his personal appearance and character, 
strikingly resembled President Jackson. Beside the facts given under the head of Logan 
county, we have space for but a single anecdote, exhibiting his Spartan-like conduct at 
Grant’s defeat, in Indiana. In that desperate action, the Kentuckians, overpowered by 
nearly four times their number, performed feats of bravery scarcely equalled even in early 
border warfare. 

In this struggle, Lytle, then hardly 17 years of age, had both his arms shattered, his face 
powder burnt, his hair singed to the roots, and nineteen bullets passed through his body 
and clothing. In this condition, a retreat being ordered, he succeeded in bringing off the 
field several of his friends, generously aiding the wounded and the exhausted, by placing 
them on horses, while he himself ran forward in advance of the last remnant of the re¬ 
treating party, to stop the only boat on the Ohio at that time, which could take them over 
and save them from the overwhelming force of their savage adversaries. 

On reaching the river, he found the boat in the act of putting off for the Kentucky shore. 
The men were reluctant to obey his demand for a delay, until those still in the rear should 
come up—one of them declaring that “ it was better that a few should perish, than that all 
should be sacrificed.” He threw the rifle, which he still carried on his shoulder, over the 
root of a fallen tree, and swore he would shoot the first man who pulled an oar until his 
friends were aboard. In this way the boat was detained until they came up, and were 
safely lodged from the pursuing foe. Disdaining personally to take advantage of this 
result, the boat being crowded almost to dipping, he ran up the river to where some 
horses stood panting under the willows, after their escape from the battle field, and mount¬ 
ing one of the strongest, forced him into the river, holding on to the mane by his teeth, 
until he was taken, in the middle of the stream, into the boat, bleeding, and almost faint¬ 
ing from his wounds, by the order of his gallant captain, the lamented Stucker, who had 
observed his conduct with admiration throughout, and was resolved that such a spirit 
should not perish; for by this time the balls of the enemy were rattling like hail about 
their ears. 

There was living many years since, near Williamsburg, Cornelius 
Washburn, or, as he was commonly called, Neil Washburn , who, 
in the early difficulties with the Indians, was distinguished for his 
sagacity and courage. Of his ultimate fate, we are somewhat un¬ 
certain : it is said, however, that the progress of civilization was too 
rapid for him, and that he long since left for the wilds of the far 
west, to pass his time in the congenial employment of hunting the 
bear and trapping the beaver. We have derived some facts from 
the lips of one who knew him well, Mr. Thomas M’Donald, the 
brother of the author of the sketches and the first person who 
erected a cabin in Scioto county. 

In the year ’90,1 first became acquainted with Neil Washburn, then a lad of sixteen, 
living on the Kentucky side of the Ohio, six miles below Maysville. From his early 
years, he showed a disposition to follow the woods. When only nine or ten, he passed 
his time in setting snares for pheasants and wild animals. Shortly after, his father pur¬ 
chased for him a shot gun, in the use of which he soon became unexcelled. In the sum¬ 
mer of ’90, his father being out of fresh provisions, crossed the Ohio with him in a canoe, 
to shoot deer, at a lick near the mouth of Eagle creek. On entering the creek, their 
attention was arrested by a singular hacking noise, some distance up the bank. Neil landed, 
and with gun in hand, cautiously crawling up the river bank, discovered an Indian, about 
twenty feet up a hickory tree, busily engaged in cutting around the bark, to make a canoe, 
in which he probably anticipated the gratification of crossing the river and committing dep¬ 
redations upon the Kentuckians. However this may have been, his meditations and work 
were soon brought to a close, for the intrepid boy no sooner saw the dusky form of the 
savage, than he brought his gun to a level with his eye, and fired: the Indian fell dead to 
the earth, with a heavy sound. He hastily retreated to the canoe, from fear of the presence 
of other Indians, and re-crossed the Ohio. Early the next morning, a party of men, guided 
by Neil, visited the spot, and found the body of the Indian at the foot of the tree. Neil 


100 


CLINTON COUNTY, 


secured the scalp, and the same day showed it, much elated, to myself and others, in the 
town of Washington, in Mason. Several persons in the village made him presents, as 
testimonials of their opinion of his bravery. 

In the next year, he was employed as a spy between Maysville and the mouth of the 
Little Miami, to watch for Indians, who were accustomed to cross the Ohio into Kentucky, 
to steal and murder. While so engaged, he had some encounters with them, in which his 
unerring rifle dealt death to several of their number. One of these was at the mouth of 
Bullskin, on the Ohio side. 

In ’92, the Indians committed such great depredations upon the Ohio, between the Great 
Kanawha and Maysville, that Gen. Lee, the government agent, in employing spies, en¬ 
deavored to get some of them to go up the Ohio, above the Kanawha, and warn all single 
boats not to descend the river. None were found sufficiently daring to go, but Neil. 
Furnished with an elegant horse, and well armed, he started on his perilous mission. He 
met with no adventures until after crossing the Big Sandy. This he swam on his horse, 
and had reached about half a mile beyond, when he was suddenly fired upon by a party of 
Indians, in ambush. His horse fell dead, and the Indians gave a yell of triumph ; but Neil 
was unhurt. Springing to his feet, he bounded back like a deer, and swam across the 
Big Sandy, holding his rifle and ammunition above his head. Panting from exertion, he 
rested upon the opposite bank to regain his strength, when the Indians, whooping and yell¬ 
ing, appeared on the other side, in lull pursuit. Neil drew up, shot one of their number, 
and then continued his retreat down the Ohio, but meeting and exchanging shots with 
others, he saw it was impossible to keep the river valley in safety, and striking his course 
more inland, to evade his enemies, arrived safely at Maysville. 

In the fall of the same year, he was in the action with Kenton and others, against Te- 
cumseh, in what is now Brown county, for the particulars of which, see page 67. Wash¬ 
burn continued as a spy throughout the war, adding “ the sagacity of lion to the cunning 
of the fox.” He was with Wayne in his campaign, and at the battle of the Fallen Tim¬ 
bers, manifested his usual prowess. 

Neil Washburn was in person near six feet in height, with broad shoulders, small feet, 
and tapered beautifully from his chest down. He was both powerful and active. His 
eyes were blue, his hair light, and complexion fair. A prominent Roman nose alone 
marred the symmetry of his personal appearance. 

In this county are several quite populous towns. New Richmond, 
which had, in 1840, a population of 772, Moscow, which had 228, 
Point Pleasant 150, Neville 228, and Chilo 102, are all upon the 
Ohio river. Near the first is a Fourierite association, but not in a 
thriving condition. Bethel, 12 miles se. of Batavia, had, in 1840, 
366 inhabitants; Felicity, 21 southerly, had 442, and Milford, 10 
nw., had 460 inhabitants. Felicity and Milford have much im¬ 
proved within the last few years. The last named is on the east 
bank of the Little Miami river, over which is a bridge, connecting 
it with the Little Miami railroad, on the opposite bank. There are 
other small villages in the county, but none of much note. 


CLINTON. 

Clinton, was organized in 1810, and named in honor of Gov. 
Geo. Clinton, Vice Pres, of United States. The surface is generally 
level; on the west undulating, and the soil is fertile. It is particu¬ 
larly adapted to Indian corn and grass. It has some prairie land, 
and its streams furnish a good water power. The principal staples 
are corn, wheat, oats, wool and pork. The following is a list of its 
townships in 1840, with their population. 



CLINTON COUNTY. 


101 


Chester, 1784 Liberty, 1050 Vernon, 1434 

Clarke, 1297 Marion, 643 Washington, 1170 

Green, 1842 Richland, 1385 Wayne, 1366 

Jefferson, 474 Union, 3284 

The population of Clinton in 1820, was 8,085 ; in 1830, 11,406 ; 
and in 1840, 15,729, or 39 inhabitants to a square mile. 

This county was settled about the year 1803, principally by emi¬ 
grants from Kentucky, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The first 
settlement, however, was made in 1797, by Wm. Smally. Most 
of the first emigrants were backswoodmen, and well fitted to en¬ 
dure the privations incident upon settling a new country. They 
lived principally upon game, and gave little attention to agricultural 
pursuits As the country grew older, game became scarce, emi¬ 
grants flocked from different parts of the Union, and the primitive 
manner of living gave place to that more conformable to the cus¬ 
toms of older states. 

The following are the names of some of the most noted of 
the early settlers: Thos. Hinkson, Aaron Burr and Jesse Hughes, 
the first associate judges ; Nathan Linton, the first land surveyor; 
Abraham Ellis and Thomas Hardin, who had been soldiers of the 
revolution ; Joseph Doan, James Mills and Henry Babb, who served 
as commissioners ; Morgan Mendican, who erected the first mill in 
the county, on Todd’s Fork; and Capt. James Spencer, who was 
distinguished in various conflicts with the Indians. 

The first house for divine worship was erected by Friends, at 
Center, in 1806. The first court was held in a barn, belonging to 
Judge Hughes, and for a number of years subsequent, in a small 
house belonging to John M’Gregor. 

There are some of the ancient works so common throughout the 
west on Todd’s Fork, near Springfield meeting house. The “ De¬ 
serted Camp,” situated about three miles northeast of Wilmington, is 
a point of notoriety with the surveyors of land. It was so called 
from the circumstance, that a body of Kentuckians, on their way 
to attack the Indian towns on the Little Miami, encamping over 
night lost one of their number, who deserted to the enemy, and 
giving warning of their approach, frustrated the object of the expe¬ 
dition. 

Wilmington, the county seat, is in the township of Union, on 
Todd’s Fork, 72 miles sw. from Columbus. It is regularly laid out 
on undulating ground, and contains 5 houses for divine worship, 1 
newspaper printing office, 1 high school, 19 mercantile stores, and a 
population estimated at 1500. The engraving represents one of the 
principal streets of the village, as it appears from the store of Jo¬ 
seph Hale ; the building with a spire is the court house, a structure 
of considerable elegance. Wilmington was laid out in 1810, prin¬ 
cipally settled by emigrants from North Carolina, and named from 
Wilmington in that state. The first log house was built by Wm. 
Hobsin, and Warren Sabin’s was the first tavern. The first church, 
a small brick edifice, was erected by the Baptists. In 1812, the 


102 


CLINTON COUNTY. 


first court was held. The earliest settlers were Warren Sabin, 
Samuel T. Londen, Wm. Hobsin, Larkin Reynolds, John Swane, 
Jas. Montgomery, John M’Gregor, sen., and Isaiah Morris. This 



View in Wilmington. 

last named gentleman, a native of Pennsylvania, descended the 
Ohio river with his uncle, in a flat-bottomed boat, in the spring of 
1803, and landed first at Columbia, where his uncle opened a store, 
from a small stock of goods he had brought. After remaining at that 
place about three months, he removed his goods to Lebanon, and not 
long after died, leaving his nephew, then a lad of seventeen years of 
age, without any means of support. He however made friends, 
and eventually moved to Wilmington, where, on the 8th of July, 
1811, he opened the first store in the town, in company with Wm. 
Ferguson. He was obliged, in moving from Lebanon, to make his 
way through the forest, cutting a wagon road part of the distance: 
the town having been laid out in the woods, it was with great diffi¬ 
culty that he could get through to the little one story frame house, 
erected in the midst of trees, logs and brush, on which he then set¬ 
tled and has since resided. Mr. Morris was the first postmaster in 
the town, the first representative from the county, to the legislature, 
and has since held various public offices.* 

William Small y was bom in western Pennsylvania, in 1764. At the age of six years 
he was stolen by the Indians, carried into the interior of Ohio, and remained with them 
until twenty years of age. While with them, he witnessed the burning of several white 
prisoners. On one occasion, he saw an infant snatched from its mother’s arms and thrown 
into the flames. In 1784, he left the Indians, rejoined his parents near Pittsburg, and a few 
years after, moved with them to the vicinity of Cincinnati. He was in Harmar’s cam¬ 
paign, and at St. Clair’s defeat, in the last of which, he discharged his rifle thirty five times, 
twenty one of which, it is said, took effect. He likewise accompanied Wayne’s army. 


* From the communication of Wm. H. Spencer, to whose researches we are mainly in¬ 
debted for the historical and biographical materials embraced under the head of Clinton 
county. 





















CLINTON COUNTY. 


103 


Being on one occasion sent forward with others, on some mission to the Indians, they were 
fired upon on their approach to the camp, and his two companions killed. He evaded the 
danger by springing behind a tree, and calling to one of the chiefs, whom he knew, telling 
him that he had deserted the whites, and had come to join them. This not only saved his 
life, but caused him to be treated with great kindness. He, however, took an early oppor¬ 
tunity, escaped to the army, and at the battle of the Fallen Timbers, showed his usual cool 
courage. 

In 1797, he settled on Todd’s Fork in this county, and resided there for a number of years, 
depending principally upon hunting for a subsistence. His personal appearance was good, 
but his address resembled that of a savage. A little anecdote illustrates his determined 
character. He purchased land on which he resided from a lawyer of Cincinnati, who re¬ 
fused to make him a deed. Smally armed himself, called upon him and demanded a bond 
for his land, with the threat that if not furnished in three days, he would take his scalp. 
This positive language soon brought the lawyer to a sense of his dangerous situation, and 
before the expiration of the time, he gave Smally the desired paper. Mr. Smally passed 
the latter part of his life in poverty. In 1836, he emigrated to Illinois, where he died in 
1840. 

Col. Thomas Hinkson was bom in 1772, in Westmoreland county, Pa. His father had em¬ 
igrated from Ireland in early life, had become an excellent woodsman, and visited Kentucky 
at a very early period. He established a station near the junction of Hinkson and Stoner, 
which form the south fork of Licking river. Here the subject of this notice was raised, 
until the age of eighteen years, when in the autumn of 1790, as a volunteer in the Ken¬ 
tucky militia, he accompanied the expedition of Gen. Harmar. He was in the battle near 
the Miami villages, under Col. Hardin’s command in front of the town, and witnessed the 
total overthrow and massacre of the detachment of Maj. Wyllis. In this battle he received 
a slight wound in the left arm, and narrowly escaped with his life. He was afterwards in 
the disastrous defeat of Gen. St. Clair, but amidst the general slaughter, escaped unhurt. 
Hitherto he had served as a private, but was subsequently selected as a lieutenant in the 
mounted volunteers from Kentucky, who fclrmed a part of the forces of Gen. Wayne 
against the same Indians in 1794. He was in the battle near the Rapids of the Maumee, 
but never pretended that he had done any thing worthy of distinction on that memorable 
day. During these several campaigns, however, he had formed the acquaintance of most 
of the leading men of Kentucky, and others of the N. W. Territory, which was highly 
advantageous to him in after life. Shortly after Wayne’s battle, he returned to Kentucky, 
married and settled on a farm inherited from his father, situated in Harrison county, where 
he lived until* the spring of 1806, when he emigrated to Ohio, and in 1807, settled on a 
farm about eight miles east of Wilmington, but then in the county of Highland. He was 
soon afterwards elected a justice of the peace for the latter county, and captain of the mili¬ 
tia company to which he belonged, in which several capacities he served until the erection 
of Clinton county, in 1810, when, without his knowledge, he was elected by the legislature 
one of the associate judges for the new county. He made no pretentions to legal know¬ 
ledge, nor will the writer claim anything for him in this respect, further than good common 
sense, which generally prevents a man from making a very foolish decision. 

After this appointment, he remained quietly at home in the occupations common to far¬ 
mers, until the declaration of war in 1812, nor did he manifest any disposition for actual 
service, until after Hull’s surrender. That event cast a gloom over the west. All of Mich¬ 
igan, Northern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois were exposed to savage depredations. Some 
troops had been hastily assembled at Urbana and other points, to repel invasion. Captain 
Hinkson was then in the prime of life, possessing a robust and manly frame seldom 
equalled, even among pioneers. He was a man of few words, and they to the purpose 
intended. He briefly explained to his family that he believed the time had come to serve 
his country. He immediately set out for head-quarters, and tendered his services to Gov. 
Meigs, then at Urbana. The president having previously made a requisition on the gov¬ 
ernor of Ohio, for two companies of rangers, to scour the country between the settlements 
and the enemy, Capt. H. was appointed to command one of those companies, with liberty 
to choose his own followers. This was soon done, and a company presented to the gov¬ 
ernor ready for duty. By this time the Indians had actual possession of the exposed ter¬ 
ritory, and it was the duty of these companies to hold them in check, and keep the army 
advised of their numbers and position. In performing this duty, many incidents might be 
related in the life of Capt. Hinkson, but one or two must suffice. Having at one time ven¬ 
tured to the Miami of the Lake, to ascertain the condition of the enemy, they found them 
encamped near the foot of the rapids of that river, with a select company of rangers, com¬ 
manded by Capt. Clark, from Canada, numbering in all from three to five hundred, and 


104 


CLINTON COUNTY. 


under the command of the celebrated Tecumseh. The ground on the hill was for miles 
covered with a thick undergrowth, which enabled Capt. Hinkson and company to ap¬ 
proach nearly within gun-shot of the enemy, without being seen. It was late in the af¬ 
ternoon, and while waiting for the approach of night, to enable them to withdraw more 
successfully, the company was secretly drawn up near the brink of the hill, and directed in 
whispers to merely take aim at the enemy. This was rather a hazardous display of humor, 
but as many of his men had never been in battle, Capt. H. told the writer it was merely to try 
their nerves. While engaged in this sport, they discovered Capt. Clark in the adjacent 
cornfield below, in hot pursuit after a flock of wild turkeys, which were running toward 
the place of concealment. Here was a crisis. He must be slain in cold blood, or made 
a prisoner. The latter alternative was adopted. The company was disposed so as to flank 
the captain and his turkeys. They were alarmed and flew into the tree tops, and while 
the captain was gazing up for his prey, Capt. Hinkson approached and politely requested 
him to ground arms, upon pain of instant death, in case he gave the least alarm. He at 
first indicated signs of resistance, but soon found “ discretion the better part of valor,” and 
surrendered himself a prisoner of war. Being at least one hundred miles from the army, 
in sight of such a force, Capt. Hinkson and company were in a very delicate condition. 
No time was to be lost. A retreat was commenced in the most secret manner, in a south¬ 
erly direction, at right angles from the river. By travelling all night they eluded pursuit, 
and brought their prize safely to camp. 

Shortly afterwards, Gen. Tupper’s brigade arrived near the rapids and encamped for the 
night, during which, Capt. H. and company acted as piquet guard, and in the morning a 
few were selected to accompany him on a secret reconnaisance down the river. Un¬ 
luckily they were met at the summit of a hill, by a detachment of the same kind from the 
enemy. Shots were exchanged, and the alarm now fairly given to both parties. This 
brought on the skirmish which ensued between that brigade and the Indians. While fight¬ 
ing in the Indian mode, near Wm. Venard, Esq., (one of Capt. Hinkson’s men, who had 
been severely wounded,) Capt. H. saw a dusky figure suddenly rise from the grass. He 
had a rifle never before known to miss fire. They both presented their pieces, which 
simultaneously snapped without effect. In preparing for a second trial, it is supposed the 
Indian was a little ahead of the captain, when a shot from Daniel Workman, (another 
ranger,) sent the Indian to his long home. 

After this skirmish, the Indians withdrew to Frenchtown, and block houses were hastily 
thrown up near the spot where Fort Meigs was afterwards erected, and where the Ohio 
troops were encamped, when the fatal disaster befel Gen. Winchester, at Raisin, Jan. 22d, 
1813. The news was carried by express, and the main body retreated, leaving Capt. H. 
and company to perform the sorrowful duty of picking up some poor stragglers from that 
bloody defeat, and burning the block houses and provisions within twenty four hours, which 
was done before it was known that the enemy had retired to Malden. The Ohio brigade, 
and others from Pennsylvania and Virginia, soon rallied again, and formed a junction at 
the rapids, where they commenced building the fort, so renowned for withstanding two 
sieges in the spring and summer of 1813. During its erection, Capt. Hinkson was at¬ 
tacked with a peculiar fever, then raging in the army, from which he did not recover fit for 
duty, until late in the spring. With a shattered constitution he returned to his home, and 
was immediately elected colonel of the 3d regiment of the 2d brigade and 1st division 
Ohio militia, which was then a post of honor, requiring much patience and discretion, in a 
region rather backward in supporting the war. 

The reader will, in this narrative, see nothing beyond a simple memorial of facts, which 
is all that the unassuming character requires. He was a plain, gentlemanly individual, of 
a very tnild and even temper ; a good husband and kind father, but rather indifferent to his 
own interest in money matters, by which he became seriously involved, lost his property 
and removed to Indiana in 1821, where he died in 1824, aged 52 years. 

Clarksville, 9 miles sw. of Wilmington, Martinsville, 9 s., Port 
William, 9 n, New Vienna, 11 se. and Burlington, 11 nw., are all 
considerable villages, each having more or less stores and churches; 
and the last, which is said to be the largest, having a population, es¬ 
timated at about 300. Sabina, Sligo, Blanchester, Cuba, Lewisville, 
Westboro’, Centerville and Morrisville, are small places. 


COLUMBIANA COUNTY. 


105 


COLUMBIANA. 

Columbiana was formed from Jefferson and Washington, March 
25th, 1803. Kilbourn, in his Gazetteer, says: “ Columbiana is a fancy 
name, taken from the names Columbus and Anna. An anecdote is 
told pending its adoption in the legislature, that a member jocularly 
moved that the name Maria should be added thereto, so as to have 
it read Columbiana-maria.” The southern part is generally broken 
and hilly, and the northern level or undulating. This is an excel¬ 
lent agricultural tract: it is well watered, abounds in fine mineral 
coal, iron ore, lime and free stone. The water lime stone of this 
county, is of the best quality. Salt water abounds on Yellow and 
Beaver creeks, which also afford a great amount of water power. 
This is the greatest wool-growing county in Ohio, and is exceeded 
by but three or four in the Union. The principal products are 
wool, wheat, corn, oats and potatoes. About one third of the popu¬ 
lation are of German origin, and there are many of Irish extraction. 
The following is a list of its townships, in 1840, with their population. 
Beaver, 1973 Hanover, 29G3 Springfield, 1994 

Butler, 1711 Knox, 2111 St.Clair, 1739 

Center, 3472 Liverpool, 1096 Unity, 1984 

Elkrun, 873 Madison, 1472 Washington, 814 

Fairfield, 2108 Middletown, 1601 Wayne, 1086 

Franklin, 893 Perry, 1630 West, 1915 

Goshen, 1397 Salem, 1903 Yellow Creek, 2686 

Greene, 3212 Smith, 2029 

The population of Columbiana, in 1820, was 22,033; in 1830, 
35,508, and, in 1840, 40,394, which was greater than any other 
counties in Ohio, excepting Hamilton and Richland. The number of 
inhabitants to a square mile, was then 46. In 1846, the county was 
reduced by the formation of Mahoning, to which the townships of 
Beaver, Goshen, Greene, Smith and Springfield now belong. 

This county was settled just before the commencement of the 
present century. In 1797, a few families moved across the Ohio 
and settled in its limits. One of them, named Carpenter, made a 
settlement near West Point. Shortly after, Captain Whiteyes, a 
noted Indian chief, stopped at the dwelling of Carpenter. Being 
intoxicated, he got into some difficulty with a son of Mr. C., a lad 
of about 17 years of age, and threatened to kill him. The young 
man upon this turned and ran, pursued by the Indian, with uplifted 
tomahawk, ready to bury it in his brains. Finding that the latter 
was fast gaining upon him, the young man turned and shot him, and 
shortly afterwards he expired. As this was in time of peace, Car¬ 
penter was apprehended and tried at Steubenville, under the terri¬ 
torial laws, the courts being then held by justices of the peace. He 
was cleared, it appearing that he acted in self-defence. The death 
of Whiteyes created great excitement, and fears were entertained 
that it would provoke hostilities from the Indians. Great exertions 

14 


106 


COLUMBIANA COUNTY. 


were made to reconcile them, and several presents were given to 
the friends of the late chief. The wife of Whiteyes received from 
three gentlemen, the sum of $300; one of these donors was the 
late Bezaleel Wells, of Steubenville. This was the last Indian 
blood shed by white men in this part of Ohio. 

Adam Poe, who, with his brother Andrew, had the noted fight 
with the Indians, once resided in this county, in Wayne township, 
on the west fork of Little Beaver. The son of Andrew—Deacon 
Adam Poe—is now living in the vicinity of Ravenna, Portage 
county, and has the tomahawk with which the Indian struck his 
father. The locality where the struggle occurred, he informs us, 
was nearly opposite the mouth of Little Yellow creek. We annex 
the particulars of this affair, from “ Doddridge’s Notes,” substituting, 
however, the name of Andrew for Adam, and vice versa , as they 
should be placed. 

In the summer of 1782, a party of seven Wyandots, made an incursion into a settlement, 
some distance below Fort Pitt, and several miles from the Ohio river. Here, finding an 
old man alone, in a cabin, they killed him, packed up what plunder they could find, and 
commenced their retreat. Among their party was a celebrated Wyandot chief, who, in 
addition to his fame as a warrior and counsellor, was, as to his size and strength, a real 
giant. 

The news of the visit of the Indians soon spread through the neighborhood, and a party 
of eight good riflemen was collected, in a few hours, for the purpose of pursuing the In¬ 
dians. In this party were two brothers of the names of Adam and Andrew Poe. They 
were both famous for courage, size and activity. 

This little party commenced the pursuit of the Indians, with a determination, if pos¬ 
sible, not to suffer them to escape, as they usually did on such occasions, by making a 
speedy flight to the river, crossing it, and then dividing into small parties, to meet at a dis¬ 
tant point, in a given time. 

The pursuit was continued the greater part of the night after the Indians had done the 
mischief. In the morning, the party found themselves on the trail of the Indians, which 
led to the river. When arrived withip. a little distance of the river, Andrew Poe, fearing 
an ambuscade, left the party, who followed directly on the trail, to creep along the brink of 
the river bank, under cover of the weeds and bushes, to fall on the rear of the Indians, 
should he find them in ambuscade. He had not gone far, before he saw the Indian rafts at 
the water’s edge. Not seeing any Indians, he stepped softly down the bank, with his rifle 
cocked. When about half way down, he discovered the large Wyandot chief and a small 
Indian, within a few steps of him. They were standing with their guns cocked, and look¬ 
ing in the direction of our party, who, by this time, had gone some distance lower down 
the bottom. Poe took aim at the large chief, but his rifle missed fire. The Indians, hear¬ 
ing the snap of the gun-lock, instantly turned round and discovered Poe, who being too 
near them to retreat, dropped his gun and instantly sprang from the bank upon them, and 
seizing the large Indian by the cloths on his breast, and at the same time embracing the 
neck of the small one, threw them both down on the ground, himself being upmost. The 
Indian soon extricated himself, ran to the raft, got his tomahawk, and attempted to dispatch 
Poe, the large Indian holding him fast in his arms with all his might, the better to enable 
his fellow to effect his purpose. Poe, however, so well watched the motions of the Indian, 
that when in the act of aiming his blow at his head, by a vigorous and well-directed kick 
with one of his feet, he staggered the savage, and knocked the tomahawk out of his hand. 
This failure, on the part of the small Indian, was reproved, by an exclamation of contempt, 
from the large one. 

In a moment, the Indian caught up his tomahawk again, approached more cautiously, 
brandishing his tomahawk, and making a number of feigned blows, in defiance and de¬ 
rision. Poe, however, still on his guard, averted the real blow from his head, by throwing 
up his arm and receiving it on his wrist, in which he was severely wounded ; but not so as 
to lose entirely the use of his hand. 

In this perilous moment, Poe, by a violent effort, broke loose from the Indian, snatched 
up one of the Iudian’s guns, and shot the small Indian through the breast, as he ran up the 
third time to tomahawk him. 


COLUMBIANA COUNTY. 


107 


The large Indian was now on his feet, and grasping Poe by a shoulder and leg, threw 
him down on the bank. Poe instantly disengaged himself and got on his feet. The In¬ 
dian then seized him again, and a new struggle ensued, which, owing to the slippery state 
of the bank, ended in the fall of both combatants into the water. 

In this situation, it was the object of each to drown the other. Their efforts to effect 
their purpose were continued for some time with alternate success, sometimes one being 
under the water, and sometimes the other. Poe at length seized the tuft of hair on the 
scalp of the Indian, with which he held his head under the water, until he supposed him 
drowned. 

Relaxing his hold too soon, Poe instantly found his gigantic antagonist on his feet again, 
and ready for another combat. In this, they were carried into the water beyond their 
depth. In this situation, they were compelled to loose their hold on each other, and swim 
for mutual safety. Both sought the shore to seize a gun, and end the contest with bullets. 
The Indian, being the best swimmer, reached the land first. Ppe seeing this, immediately 
turned back into the water to escape, if possible, being shot, by diving. Fortunately, the 
Indian caught up the rifle with which Poe had killed the other warrior. 

At this juncture, Adam Poe, missing his brother from the party, and supposing, from the 
report of the gun which he shot, that he was either killed or engaged in conflict with the 
Indians, hastened to the spot. On seeing him, Andrew called out to him to “ kill the big 
Indian on shoVe.” But Adam’s gun, like that of the Indian’s, was empty. The contest 
was now between the white man and the Indian, who should load ar$ fire first. Very for¬ 
tunately for Poe, the Indian, in loading, drew the rqmrod from the thimbles of the stock of 
the gun with so much violence, that it slipped out of his hand and fell a little distance from 
him ; he quickly caught it up, and rammed down his bullet. This little delay gave Poe 
the advantage. He shot the Indian as he was raising his gun, to take aim at him. 

As soon as Adam had shot the Indian, he jumped into the river to assist his wounded 
brother to shore; but Andrew, thinking more of the honor of carrying the big Indian 
home, as a trophy of victory, than of his own safety, urged Adam to go back, and pre¬ 
vent the struggling savage from rolling himself into the river, and escaping. Adam’s 
solicitude for the life of his brother, prevented him from complying with this request. 

In the mean time, the Indian, jealous of the honor of his scalp, even in the agonies of 
death, succeeded in reaching the river and getting into the current, so that his body was 
never obtained. 

An unfortunate occurrence took place during this conflict. Just as Adam arrived at the 
top of the bank, for the relief of his brother, one of the party, who had followed close 
behind him, seeing Andrew in the river, and mistaking him for a wounded Indian, shot 
at him and wounded him in the shoulder. He, however, recovered from his wounds. 

During the contest between Andrew Poe and the Indians, the party had overtaken the 
remaining six of them. A desperate conflict ensued, in which five of the Indians were 
killed. Our loss was three men killed, and Adam Poe severely wounded. 

Thus ended this Spartan conflict, with the loss of three valiant men on our part, and 
with that of the whole of the Indian party, with the exception of one warrior. Never, on 
any occasion, was there a greater display of desperate bravery, and seldom did a conflict 
take place, which, in the issue, proved fatal to so great a proportion of those engaged in it. 

The fatal issue of this little campaign on the side of the Indians, occasioned an uni¬ 
versal mourning among the Wyandot nation. The big Indian, with his four brothers, all 
of whom were killed at the same place, were among the most distinguished chiefs and 
warriors of their nation. 

The big Indian was magnanimous, as well as brave. He, more than any other indi¬ 
vidual, contributed, by his example and influence, to the good character of the Wyandots, 
for lenity towards their prisoners. He would not suffer them to be killed or ill treated. 
This mercy to captives, was an honorable distinction in the character of the Wyandots, 
and was well understood by our first settlers, who, in case of captivity, thought it a for¬ 
tunate circumstance to fall into their hands. 

New Lisbon, the county seat, is in the township of Center, 155 
miles ne. of Columbus, 35 from Steubenville, and 56 from Pittsburg. 
It is on the line of the Sandy and Beaver canal, on the middle fork 
of Little Beaver, and is surrounded by a populous and well culti¬ 
vated country. The town is remarkably compact and substantially 
built; many of its streets are paved, and it has the appearance of a 
small city. The view was taken from the southeastern part of the 


108 


COLUMBIANA COUNTY. 


public square; and shows, on the left, the county buildings, and on 
the right, the market. New Lisbon was laid out in 1802, by the 



Public Square, New Lisbon. 


Rev. Lewis Kinney, of the Baptist denomination, and proprietor of 
the soil; a year or two after, it was made the county seat. It con¬ 
tains 1 Friends meeting house, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal and 1 
Reformed Methodist, 1 Disciples, 1 Dutch Reformed, and 1 Seceder 
church, 3 newspaper printing offices, 2 woolen manufactories, 2 
founderies, 2 flouring mills, 14 mercantile stores, and about 1800 
inhabitants. Carriage making and tanning are extensively carried 
on in this village. 



The Cottage of a German Swiss Emigrant. 

In travelling through the west, one often meets with scenes that 
remind him of another land. The foreigner who makes his home 


































COLUMBIANA COUNTY. 


109 


upon American soil, does not at once assimilate in language, modes 
of life, and current of thought with that congenial to his adopted 
country. The German emigrant is peculiar in this respect, and so 
much attached is he to his fatherland, that years often elapse ere 
there is any perceptible change. The annexed engraving illustrates 
these remarks. It shows the mud cottage of a German Swiss emi¬ 
grant, now standing in the neighborhood of others of like character, 
in the northwestern part of this coynty. The frame work is of 
wood, with the interstices filled with light colored clay, and the 
whole surmounted by a ponderous shingled roof, of a picturesque 
form. Beside the tenement, hop vines are clustering around their 
slender supporters, while hard by stands the abandoned log dwelling 
of the emigrant—deserted for one more congenial with his early 
predilections. 



Eastern entrance into Salem. 


New Salem is 10 miles north of New Lisbon, in the midst of a 
beautiful agricultural country, thickly settled by Friends, who are 
industrious and wealthy. This flourishing town was laid out about 
1806, by Zadock Street, John Strong and Samuel Davis, members 
of the society of Friends, from Redstone, Pa. Until within a few 
years, it was an inconsiderable village. It now contains 2 Friends 
meeting houses, 2 Baptist, 1 Methodist and 1 Presbyterian church, 
a classical academy, in good repute, under the charge of Rev. Jacob 
Coon, 24 mercantile stores, 2 woolen factories, 3 founderies, 1 grist 
mill, 2 engine shops, and about 1300 inhabitants. There are four 
newspapers published here, one of which is the American Water 
Cure Advocate, edited by Dr. John P. Cope, principal of a water 
cure establishment, in full operation, in this village. The engraving 
shows the principal street of the town, as it appears on entering it 
from the east: Street’s woolen factory is seen on the left. 

Wellsville is at the mouth of Yellow creek, on the great bend of 









110 


COLUMBTANA COUNTY. 


the Ohio river, where it approximates nearest to Lake Erie, 50 miles 
below Pittsburg, and 14 from New Lisbon. It was laid out in the 
autumn of 1824, by William Wells, from whom it derived its name. 
Until 1828, it contained but a few buildings ; it is now an important 
point for the shipment and transhipment of goods, and does a large 



Wellsville, on the Ohio. 

business with the surrounding country. The landing is one of the 
best, in all stages of water, on the river. This flourishing town has 
1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal Methodist, 1 Reformed Methodist, and 
1 Disciples church, 1 newspaper printing office, 1 linseed oil and 1 
saw mill, 1 pottery, 1 raw carding machine, 1 foundery, 16 mercan¬ 
tile stores, and, in 1840, had a population of 759, and in 1846, 1066. 
The view, taken from the Virginia bank of the Ohio, shows but a 
small part of the town. About a mile below, on the river bank, in 
a natural grove, are several beautiful private dwellings. The 
“ Cleveland and Pittsburg railroad,” 97 miles in length, will com¬ 
mence at Cleveland and terminate at Wellsville, and whenever 
built, will tend to make Wellsville a place of great business and 
population. A survey for this work has been recently made, and 
there is a good prospect of its being constructed. 

The first paper mill in Ohio, and the second west of the Alle- 
ghanies, was erected in 1805-6, on Little Beaver creek, near its 
mouth, in this county. It was called the Ohio paper mill: its pro¬ 
prietors were John Bever and John Coulter. 

Liverpool, 4 miles above Wellsville, on the Ohio, has a population 
of about 600. The manufacture of earthen-ware is carried on there 
to a considerable extent. Hanover, 10 miles west of New Lisbon, 
on the Sandy and Beaver canal, is a thriving town, containing 3 
churches, 8 stores, and about 600 inhabitants. The following are 

























COSHOCTON COUNTY. 


Ill 


the names of other towns in the county, with their population in 
1840, some of which are smart business places. Columbiana, 273; 
Gillford, 263; Unity, 204; Georgetown, 219; New Garden, 194; 
Fairfield, 181 ; Calcutta, 135; Franklin Square, 151 ; Washington- 
ville, 107 : Benton, Clarkson, Chambersburg, Dugannon, Damascus, 
Elkton, Middle Beaver, Palestine, Rochester, Salinesville and West- 
ville are small places. 


COSHOCTON. 


Coshocton was organized April 1st, 1811. The name is a Dela¬ 
ware word, and is derived from that of the Indian village Goschach- 
quenk , which is represented in a map in Loskiel, as having stood 
north of the mouth of the Tuscarawas river, in the fork formed by 
its junction with the Walhonding. The surface is mostly rolling ; 
in some parts hilly, with fine broad vallies along the Muskingum 
and its tributaries. The soil is varied, and abruptly so: here we 
see the rich alluvion almost overhung by a red-bush hill, while, per¬ 
haps, on the very next acclivity, is seen the poplar and sugar tree, 
indicative of a fertile soil. With regard to sand and clay, the 
changes are equally sudden. The hills abound in coal and iron 
ore, and several salt wells have been sunk, and salt manufactured. 
The principal products are wheat, corn, oats and wool. It was first 
settled by Virginians and Pennsylvanians. The following is a list 
of its townships, in 1840, with their population. 


Adams, 838 
Bedford, 1141 
Bethlehem, 827 


Clark, 
Crawford, 
Franklin, 
Jackson, 
Jefferson, 


703 

1134 

670 

1896 

771 


Keene, 1043 Perry, 1339 

Lafayette, 848 Pike, 1115 

Linton, 1196 Tiverton, 665 

Mill Creek, 907 Tuscarawas, 1144 

Monroe, 557 Virginia. 1005 

NewCastle, 905 Washington, 1029 

Oxford, 760 White Eyes, 997 


The population of the county, in 1820, was 7086; in 1830, 11,162, 
and in 1840, 21590, or 38 inhabitants to a square mile. 

Previous to the settlement of the country, there were several mil¬ 
itary expeditions into this region. The first in importance and in 
order of time, was that made by Col. Boquet, in October, 1764. 
The following is extracted from the lecture of Charles Whittlesey, 
Esq., delivered at Cleveland, Dec. 17th, 1846. 


The Indians were very much displeased, when they saw the English taking possession 
of their country, for they preferred the Frenchmen, who had been theirfriends and traders 
more than one hundred years, and had married Indian women. A*noted chief of the 
Ottawa tribe, known by the name of Pontiac, formed the resolution to destroy all the 
English frontier posts at one assault, in which he was encouraged by the French traders. 

He succeeded in forming an alliance with the Ottawas, having 900 warriors; the Poto- 
wotomies, with 350 ; Miamies of the lake, 350 ; Chippewas, 5000 ; Wyandots, 300 ; Del¬ 
awares, 600 ; Shawnees, 500 ; Kickapoos, 300 ; Ouatanons of the Wabash, 400, and the 
Pinankeshaws, 250 ; in all, able to muster 8950 warriors. This may be called the “ First 



112 


COSHOCTON COUNTY. 


Great Northwestern Confederacy’* against the whites. The second took place under 
Brandt, or Thayandanegea, during the revolution, and was continued by Little Turtle ; the 
third, under Tecumseh, in the last war. Pontiac’s projects were brought to a focus in the 
fall of 1763, and the result was nearly equal to the design. The Indians collected at all 
the northwestern forts, under the pretence of trade and friendly intercourse ; and having 
killed all the English traders who were scattered through their villages, they made a simul¬ 
taneous attack upon the forts, and were in a great measure successful. 

The inhabitants of Pennsylvania and Virginia were now subject to great alarm, and 
frequently robberies and murders were committed, upon them by the Indians, and prisoners 
were captured. General Gage was at this time the commander-in-chief of the British 
forces in America, and his head-quarters were at Boston. He ordered an expedition of 
3000 men for the relief of Detroit, to move early in the year 1764. It was directed to 
assemble at Fort Niagara, and proceeded up Lake Erie in boats, commanded by General 
Bradstreet. The other was the expedition I design principally to notice at this time. It 
was at first composed of the 42d and 77th regiments, who had been at the siege of Havana, 
in Cuba, under the command of Col. Henry Boquet. This force left Philadelphia, for the 
relief of Fort Pitt, in July, 1763, and after defeating the Indians at Bushy Run, in August, 
drove them across the Ohio. It wintered at Fort Pitt, where some of the houses, built by 
Col. Boquet, may still be seen, his name cut in stone upon the wall. 

General Gage directed Col. Boquet to organize a corps of 1500 men, and to enter the 
country of the Delawares and the Shawnees, at the same time that General Bradstreet was 
engaged in chastising the Wyandots and Ottawas, of Lake Erie, who were still investing 
Detroit. As a part of Col. Boquet’s force was composed of militia from Pennsylvania and 
Virginia, it was slow to assemble. On the 5th of August, the Pennsylvania quota rendez¬ 
voused at Carlisle, where 300 of them deserted. The Virginia quota arrived at Fort Pitt 
on the 17th of September, and uniting with the provincial militia, a part of the 42d and 
60th regiments, the army moved from Fort Pitt on the 3d of October. General Bradstreet, 
having dispersed the Indian forces besieging Detroit, passed into the Wyandot country, by 
way of Sandusky bay. He ascended the bay and river, as far as it was navigable for 
boats, and there made a camp. A treaty of peace and friendship was signed by the chiefs 
and head men, who delivered but very few of their prisoners. 

When Col. Boquet was at Fort Loudon, in Pennsylvania, between Carlisle and Fort Pitt, 
urging forward the militia levies, he received a despatch from General Bradstreet, notifying 
him of the peace effected at Sandusky. But the Ohio Indians, particularly the Shawnees 
of the Scioto river, and the Delawares of the Muskingum, still continued their robberies 
and murders along the frontier of Pennsylvania; and so Col. Boquet determined to proceed 
with his division, notwithstanding the peace of General Bradstreet, which did not include 
the Shawnees and Delawares. In the march from Philadelphia to Fort Pitt, Col. Boquet 
had shown himself to be a man of decision, courage and military genius. In the engage¬ 
ment at Bushy Run, he displayed that caution in preparing for emergencies, that high per¬ 
sonal influence over his troops, and a facility in changing his plans as circumstances changed 
during the battle, which mark the good commander and the cool-headed officer. He had 
been with Forbes and Washington, when Fort Pitt was taken from the French. The In¬ 
dians who were assembled at Fort Pitt, left the siege of that place and advanced to meet 
the force of Boquet, intending to execute a surprise and destroy the whole command. 
These savages remembered how easily they had entrapped General Braddock, a few years 
before, by the same movement, and had no doubt of success against Boquet. But he 
moved always in a hollow square, with his provision train and his cattle in the centre, im¬ 
pressing his men with the idea that a fire might open upon them at any moment. When 
the important hour arrived, and they were saluted with the discharge of a thousand rifles, 
accompanied by the terrific yells of so many savage warriors, arrayed in the livery of 
demons, the English and provincial troops behaved like veterans, whom nothing could shake. 
They achieved a complete victory, and drove the allied Indian force beyond the Ohio. 

From Fort Pitt, Col. Boquet proceeded westward, on the north 
bank of the Ohio, with such caution, that the Indians were unable 
to draw him into an ambuscade. At the mouth of Big Beaver, the 
troops crossed by a ford, and on the 6th of October, reached the 
Little Beaver, passed up its east branch, and across the highlands to 
the waters of the Yellow creek, through an open and bushy country. 
Reaching Sandy creek, they passed down its banks, and crossing 
the stream by a ford, reached a beautiful plain—where the village 


COSHOCTON COUNTY. 


113 


of Bolivar now stands—on which they encamped. By the 16 th of 
October, Col. Boquet erected a stockade, two miles and forty rods 
below the ford, at a ravine, and completed his arrangements against 
a surprise. 

The Indians being convinced that they could not succeed in any 
attempt against him, made a treaty of peace, and engaged to restore 
all the prisoners taken from the whites. 

On Monday, the 22d, the troops broke up camp, and proceeded down the west bank of 
the Muskingum towards the Wakatomaka towns, about the mouth of the Whitewoman. 
The deputations accompanied them as guides. They reached the highland, one mile north 
of the mouth of the Walhonding or Whitewoman, on Thursday, and made a camp. The 
distance of this point from the mouth of Big Beaver or Mahoning river, by the route of 
the army, is 101 miles and 83 rods. Col. Boquet caused a stockade to be built, with four 
redoubts, and erected cabins and store-houses, determined to wait for the arrival of the 
prisoners. 

On the 9th of November, 206 prisoners, including women and children, had been deliv¬ 
ered, of whom 32 men and 58 women and children were from Virginia, and 49 males and 
67 females from Pennsylvania. 

On the 18th of November, the army broke up its cantonement at the Whitewoman and 
returned to Fort Pitt, which they reached on the 28th of the same month. This expedition 
was conducted with so much skill and prudence, that none of those frightful disasters that 
often result from Indian wars occurred. The savages, although in great strength, found no 
opportunity to make an attack. No prisoners were taken, none died of sickness, and 
every man of the party returned except one, who was killed and scalped by an Indian, when 
separated from camp. The Pennsylvania troops were under Lieut. Col. Francis, and Lieut. 
Col. Clayton. Col. Reid was next in command to Col. Boquet. 

The provincial troops were discharged, and the regulars sent to garrison Fort Loudon, 
Fort Bedford and Carlisle. Col. Boquet arrived at Philadelphia in January, and received 
a complimentary address from the legislature, and also from the house of Burgesses of Vir¬ 
ginia. Before these resolutions reached England, the king promoted him to be a brigadier 
general. He was ordered to the command of the post of Mobile, and the next season 
died there. 

The scene which took place when the captives were brought in 
by the Indians, as mentioned in the preceding account, is thus re¬ 
lated by Mr. Hutchins. 

Language indeed can but weakly describe the scene, one to which the poet or painter 
might have repaired tp enrich the highest colorings of the variety of the human passions, 
the philosopher, to find ample subject for the most serious reflection, and the man to exer¬ 
cise all the tender and sympathetic feelings of the soul. There were to be seen fathers 
and mothers recognizing and clasping their once lost babes, husbands hanging round the 
necks of their newly recovered wives, sisters and brothers unexpectedly meeting together, 
after a long separation, scarcely able to speak the same language, or for some time to be 
sure that they were the children of the same parents. In all these interviews joy and rap¬ 
ture inexpressible were seen, while feelings of a very different nature were painted in the 
looks of others, flying from place to place, in eager inquiries after relatives not found; 
trembling to receive an answer to questions; distracted with doubts, hopes and fears on 
obtaining no account of those they sought for ; or stiffened into living monuments of horror 
and woe, on learning their unhappy fate. 

The Indians too, as if wholly forgetting their usual savageness, bore a capital part in 
heightening this most affecting scene. They delivered up their beloved captives with the 
utmost reluctance—shed torrents of tears over them—recommending them to the care and 
protection of the commanding officer. Their regard to them continued all the while they 
remained in camp. They visited them from day to day, brought them what com, skins, 
horses, and other matters had been bestowed upon them while in their families, accompa¬ 
nied with other presents, and all the marks of the most sincere and tender affection. Nay, 
they didn’t stop here, but when the army marched, some of the Indians solicited and ob¬ 
tained permission to accompany their former captives to Fort Pitt, and employed them¬ 
selves in hunting and bringing provisions for them on the way. A young Mingo carried 
this still farther, and gave an instance of love which would make a figure even in romance. 

15 


114 


COSHOCTON COUNTY, 


A young woman of Virginia, was among the captives, to whom he had formed so strong 
an attachment as to call her his wife. Against all the remonstrances of the imminent 
danger to which he exposed himself by approaching the frontier, he persisted in following 
her, at the risk of being killed by the surviving relatives of many unfortunate persons, who 
had been taken captive or scalped by those of his nation. 

Among the captives, a woman was brought into camp at Muskingum with a babe about 
three months old at the breast. One of the Virginia volunteers soon knew her to be his 
wife ! She had been taken by the Indians about six months before. He flew with her to 
his tent and clothed her and his child with proper apparel. But their joy after the first 
transports, was soon dampened by the reflection that another dear child about two years 
old, taken with the mother had been separated from her, and was still missing, although 
many children had been brought in. 

A few days afterwards, a number of other persons were brought in, among them was sev¬ 
eral children. The woman was sent for, and one supposed to be hers was produced to her. 
At first sight she was not certain, but viewing the child with great earnestness, she soon recol¬ 
lected its features, and was so overcome with joy, that forgetting her sucking child, she 
dropt it from her arms, and catching up the new found child, in ecstacy, pressed it to her 
breast, and bursting into tears, carried it off unable to speak for joy. The father rising up 
with the babe she had let fall, followed her in no less transport and affection. 

But it must not be deemed that there were not some, even grown persons who showed 
an unwillingness to return. The Shawnees were obliged to bind some of their prisoners, 
and force them along to the camp, and some women who had been delivered up, afterwards 
found means to escape, and went back to the Indian tribes. Some who could not make 
their escape, clung to their savage acquaintances at parting, and continued many days in 
bitter lamentations, even refusing sustenance. 

Another expedition was undertaken in the summer of 1780 , and 
directed against the Indian villages at the forks of the Muskingum. 
The narrative of this, usually known as “ the Coshocton campaign 
we derive from Doddridge’s Notes. 

The place of rendezvous was Wheeling. The number of regulars and militia, about 
eight hundred. From Wheeling they made a rapid march, by the nearest route, to the 
place of their destination. When the army reached the river, a little below Salem, the 
lower Moravian town, Col. Broadhead sent an express to the missionary in that place, the 
Rev. John Heckewelder, informing him of his arrival in his neighborhood, with his army, 
requesting a small supply of provisions, and a visit from him in his camp. When the mis¬ 
sionary arrived at the camp, the general informed him of the object of the expedition he 
was engaged in, and inquired of him, whether any of the Christian Indians were hunting, 
or engaged in business in the direction of his march. On being answered in the negative, 
he stated that nothing would give him greater pain, than to hear that any of the Moravian 
Indians had been molested by the troops, as these Indians had always, from the commence¬ 
ment of the war, conducted themselves in a manner that did them honor. 

A part of the militia had resolved on going up the river, to destroy the Moravian vil¬ 
lages, but were prevented from executing their project by Gen. Broadhead, and Col. Shep¬ 
herd, of Wheeling. At White Eyes’ Plain, a few miles from Coshocton, an Indian pris¬ 
oner was taken. Soon afterwards two more Indians were discovered, one of whom was 
wounded, but he, as well as the other, made their escape. 

The commander, knowing that these two Indians would make the utmost dispatch in 
going to the town, to give notice of the approach of the army, ordered a rapid march, in 
the midst of a heavy fall of rain, to reach the town before them, and take it by surprise. 
The plan succeeded. The army reached the place in three divisions. The right and left 
wings approached the river a little above and below the town, while the center marched di¬ 
rectly upon it. The whole number of the Indians in the village, on the east side of the 
river, together with ten or twelve from a little village, some distance above, were made 
prisoners, without firing a single shot. The river having risen to a great height, owing to 
the recent fall of rain, the army could not cross it. Owing to this, the villages with their 
inhabitants on the west side of the river, escaped destruction. 

Among the prisoners, sixteen warriors were pointed out by Pekillon, a friendly Delaware 
chief, who was with the army of Broadhead. A little after dark, a council of war was 
held, to determine on the fate of the warriors in custody. They were doomed to death, 
and by order of the commander, they were bound, taken a little distance below the town 
and dispatched with tomahawks and spears, and scalped. 


COSHOCTON COUNTY. 


115 


Early the next morning, an Indian presented himself on the opposite bank of the river 
and asked for the big captain. Broadhead presented himself, and asked the Indian what 
he wanted 1 To which he replied, “ I want peace.” “ Send over some of your chiefs,” 
said Broadhead. “ May be you kill,” said the Indian. He was answered, “ They shall 
not be killed.” One of the chiefs, a well-looking man, came over the river, and entered 
into conversation with the commander in the street; but while engaged in conversation, a 
man of the name of Wetzel came up behind him, with a tomahawk concealed in the bosom 
of his hunting shirt, and struck him on the back of his head. He fell and instantly ex¬ 
pired. About 11 or 12 o’clock, the army commenced its retreat from Coshocton. Gen. 
Broadhead committed the care of the prisoners to the militia. They were about twenty in 
number. After marching about half a mile, the men commenced killing them. In a short 
time they were all despatched, except a few women and children, who .were spared and 
taken to Fort Pitt, and after some time, exchanged for an equal number of their prisoners. 



Public Square , Coshocton. 

Coshocton, the county seat, is finely situated on the Muskingum, 
at the junction of the Tuscarawas, with the Walhonding river, 83 
miles northeast from Columbus, and 30 from Zanesville. The 
ground on which it is built, for situation, could scarcely be improved, 
as it is lies in four broad natural terraces, each elevated about nine 
feet above the other, the last of which, is about one thousand feet 
wide. The town is much scattered. About sixty rods back from 
the Muskingum, is the public square, containing four acres, neatly 
fenced, planted with young trees and covered with a green sward; 
on it stand the county buildings, represented in the engraving. 
Coshocton was laid out in April, 1802, by Ebenezer Buckingham and 
John Matthews, under the name of Tuscarawa , and changed to its 
present appellation in 1811. The county was first settled only a 
few years prior to the formation of the town: among the early set¬ 
tlers, were Col. Chas. Williams, Wm. Morrison, Isaac Hoglin, Geo. 
M’Culloch, Andrew Craig and Wm. Whitten. Coshocton contains 
2 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, and 1 Protestant Methodist 
church, 6 mercantile stores, 2 newspaper printing offices, 1 woolen 
factory, 1 flouring mill, and had in 1840, 625 inhabitants. In times 
of high water, steamboats occasionally run up to Coshocton. 

" A short distance below Coshocton,” says Dr. Hildreth in Silliman’s Journal, “ on one 
of those elevated gravelly alluvions, so common on the rivers of the west, has been re¬ 
cently discovered a very singular ancient burying ground. From some remains of wood still 
[1835] apparent in the earth around the bones, the bodies seem all to have been deposited 
in coffins; and what is still more curious, is the fact, that the bodies buried here were gen- 








116 


CRAWFORD COUNTY. 


erally not more than from three to four and a half feet in length. They are very numerous, 
and must have been tenants of a considerable city, or their numbers could not have been 
so great. A large number of graves have been opened, the inmates of which are all of 
this pigmy race. No metallic articles or utensils have yet been found, to throw any light 
on the period or nation to which they belonged. Similar burying grounds have been found 
in Tennessee, and near St. Louis, in Missouri.” 

We learn orally from another source, that this burying ground covered, in 1830, about 
10 acres. The graves were arranged in regular rows, with avenues between, and the heads 
of all were placed to the west and the feet to the east. 

In one of them was a skeleton with pieces of oak boards and iron wrought nails. The 
corpse had evidently been dismembered before burial, as the skull was found among the 
bones of the pelvis, and other bones were displaced. The skull itself was triangular in 
shape, much flattened at the sides and back, and in the posterior part having an orifice, ev¬ 
idently made by some weapon of war, or bullet. In 1830, dwarf oaks of many years’ 
growth were over several of the graves. The grave yard has since been plowed over. 
Nothing was known of its origin by the early settlers. Below the grave yard is a beauti¬ 
ful mound. 

On the west bank of the Muskingum, opposite to and connected 
with Coshocton by a bridge, is Roscoe. This town was laid off in 
1816, by James Calder, under the name of Caldersburg. An addition 
was subsequently laid off by Ransom & Swane, which being united 
with it, the place was called Roscoe, from Wm. Roscoe, the English 
author. The Walhonding canal, which extends to the village of Roch¬ 
ester, a distance of 25 miles, unites with the Ohio canal at Roscoe. 
This town is at present a great wheat depot on the canal, and an 
important place of shipment and transhipment. Its capacities for 
a large manufacturing town are ample. “ The canals bring together 
the whole water power of the Tuscarawas and Walhonding, the 
latter standing in the canal at this place, forty feet above the level 
of the Muskingum, and the canal being comparatively little used, 
the whole power of the stream, capable of performing almost any 
thing desired, could be used for manufacturing purposes ; and sites 
for a whole manufacturing village, could be purchased compara¬ 
tively for a trifle.” Roscoe contains 1 Methodist Episcopal church, 
5 dry goods and 2 grocery stores, 2 forwarding houses, 1 fulling, 
2 saw and 2 flouring mills, and had in 1840, 468 inhabitants. From 
the hills back of town, a fine prospect is presented up the vallies of 
the Tuscarawas and Walhonding, and down that of the Muskingum. 

The following are the names of small villages in the county, with 
their population, according to the census of 1840: since then some 
of them have much increased. East Union, 210 ; West Carlisle, 
213; New Castle, 155; Rochester, 111 ; West Bedford, 103; and 
Keene, 100; New Bedford, Evansburg, Birmingham, Chili, Jacobs- 
port, Lewisville, Plainfield, Van Buren and Warsaw, each less than 
100 . 


CRAWFORD. 

Crawford was formed from old Indian Territory, April 1st, 1820. 
The surface is generally level, and in part slightly rolling; the south 



CRAWFORD COUNTY. 


117 


and west part is beautiful prairie land. The plains are usually cov¬ 
ered with a rich vegetable loam of from 6 to 15 inches deep: the 
subsoil in most parts of the county is clay, mixed with lime ; in many 
places—particularly the plains—a mixture of marl. Several rich 
beds of shell marl have already been discovered. The whole coun¬ 
ty is well adapted to grazing. The principal products are wheat, 
corn, oats, clover and timothy seeds, grass, wool and horned cattle. 
There are some fine limestone quarries. The following is a list of 
the townships in 1840, with their population: 


Antrim, 261 

Bucyrus, 1654 
Center, 132 

Chatfield, 878 
Cranberry, 680 
Crawford, 812 


Holmes, 

744 

Jackson, 

636 

Liberty, 

1469 

Lykens, 

742 

Mifflin, 

316 


Pitt, 423 

Sandusky, 679 
Sycamore, 958 
Tymochtee, 1659 
Whetsone, 1124 


The population of Crawford, in 1830, was 4,788, and in 1840, 
13,167. In 1845, the county was much reduced by the formation of 
Wyandot. 


This county derived its name from Col. William Crawford, who was bom in Virginia, 
in 1732, the same year with Washington. In 1758, he was a captain in Forbes expedi¬ 
tion, which took possession of Fort Duquesne, on the site of Pittsburg. Washington was 
the friend of .Crawford, and often in his visits to the then west, was an inmate of his hum¬ 
ble dwelling, in Fayette county. He was a brave and energetic man, and, at the com¬ 
mencement of the revolution, raised a regiment by his own exertions, and received the 
commission of colonel of continentals. He often led parties against the Indians across the 
Ohio. In 1782, he reluctantly accepted the command of an expedition against the Ohio 
Indians. On this occasion he was taken prisoner, and burnt to death amid the most ex¬ 
cruciating tortures, on the Tyemochtee, in the former limits of this, but now within the new 
county of Wyandot. 


Bucyrus, the county seat, is on the Sandusky river—here a small 
stream— 62 miles n. of Columbus, and 46 from Sandusky city. The 
view shows, on the right, the Lutheran church, and on the left, the 
county buildings and the academy. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 
Lutheran, 1 Baptist, 1 Methodist and 1 Protestant Methodist church; 
14 stores, 1 grist, 1 saw and 2 fulling mills, 1 newspaper printing 
office and a population of about 1,000 : in 1840, it had 704 inhabi¬ 
tants. On the land of R. W. Musgrave, in the southeastern part of 
the town, a gas well has recently been dug. On first reaching the 
water—a distance of about 18 feet—it flew up about 6 feet with a 
loud, roaring noise ; a pump has been placed over it, and the gas is 
conducted to the surface by a pipe, which, when a torch is applied, 
burns with a brilliant flame. 

Bucyrus was laid out Feb. 11th, 1822, by Samuel Norton and 
James Kilbourne, proprietors of the soil. The first settler on the 
site of the town was Samuel Norton, who moved in from Pa. in 
1819. He wintered in a small cabin made of poles, which stood just 
north of his present residence on the bank of the Sandusky. This 
region of country was not thrown into market until August, 1820, at 
which time it abounded in bears, wolves, catamounts, foxes and other 
wild animals. When he came, there were but a few settlers in the 


118 


CRAWFORD COUNTY. 


county, principally squatters on the Whetstone, the nearest of whom 
was on that stream eight miles distant. North and west of Mr. N. 
there was not a single settler in the county. Others of the early 
settlers in the town, whose names are recollected, were David and 
Michael Beedle, Daniel M’Michael, John Kent, Wm. Young, Jacob 
Shaeffer, Thomas and James Scott, James Steward, David Stein, 
George Black, John Blowers and Nehemiah Squires. The first 
frame house was built by Samuel Bailey, and is the small frame 
building standing next to, and north of F. Margraf’s residence. The 
first brick dwelling is the one now owned by Wm. Timanus, on the 
public square. The Methodists built the first church. 



View in Bucyrus. 


On the 13th of August, 1838, part of the skeleton of a mastodon 
was discovered in wet, marshy land belonging to Abraham Hahn, on 
the Sandusky plains, near Bucyrus. “ This skeleton was particu¬ 
larly interesting and important to science, as the head and skull 
bones were perfect in all their parts, and furnished the only known 
specimen from which a correct idea could be obtained respecting 
the massive and singularly-shaped head of this animal.” The hori¬ 
zontal length of the skull was 3 feet 3 inches ; perpendicular height, 
3 ft. 2j inches; weight of skull and upper jaw, 160 pounds, to which 
added the weight of the lower jaw, 77 pounds, made 237 pounds. 
The length of the back molar tooth was 7^ inches. 

Kniseley’s or Crawford sulphur spring is 7 miles ne. of Bucyrus, 
in Sandusky township. The water is highly impregnated with 
sulphuretted hydrogen, tarnishes silver and deposites a sulphurous 
precipitate a short distance from the spring. One of its most re¬ 
markable features is a deposit of a reddish or purple sediment at 
the bottom, giving to the water a color resembling a tincture of 
iodine. The water is a gentle cathartic, and is diuretic and diapho¬ 
retic in its effects. The place is now improved, a boarding house 
being there, and it proves a valuable resort for invalids. A few rods 
from it is a burning spring. The Annapolis sulphur is a beautiful, 
clear and copious spring, owned by Mr. Sliffer, who has neatly 
enclosed it with an iron railing. It possesses medicinal virtues. 











CUYAHOGA COUNTY. 


119 


Opposite Bucyrus, near the river, is a chalybeate spring of tonic 
qualities. There are various beds of peat in the county, the most 
extensive of which is in a wet prairie, called Cranberry marsh, in 
Cranberry township, which, as shown on the map, contains nearly 
2,000 acres. This marsh formerly annually produced thousands of 
bushels of cranberries. The peat upon this marsh is estimated at 
two millions and five hundred thousand cords, by Dr. C. Briggs in 
the State Geographical report, from which we have derived the prin¬ 
cipal facts in this paragraph. 

Galeon, 11 miles se. of Bucyrus, has 3 stores, 2 or 3 churches and 
about 375 inhabitants. Leesville, about 10 e. of Bucyrus, has 2 
stores, 2 churches and about 250 inhabitants. Near this place is a 
locality called “ the battle ground,” where, it is said, Crawford, when 
on his way to Upper Sandusky, had a skirmish with some Indians. 
De Kalb, West Liberty, Middletown, New Washington, Annapolis, 
Benton, Oletangy and Osceola, are small places; at the last named, 
the Broken Sword creek has a fall of 32 feet within a space of two 
miles. 


CUYAHOGA. 


Cuyahoga was formed from Geauga county, June 7th, 1807, and 
organized in May, 1810. The name was derived from the river, and 
is said to signify, in the Indian language, “ crooked” a term signifi¬ 
cant of the river, which is very winding, and has its sources farther 
north than its mouth. The surface is level or gently undulating. 
Near the lake the soil is sandy, elsewhere generally a clayey loam. 
The vallies of the streams are highly productive in corn and oats; 
in other parts, the principal crops are wheat, barley and hay. The 
county produces a great variety and amount of excellent fruit; also, 
cheese, butter, beef cattle and wool. Bog iron ore is found in the 
west part, and furnaces are in operation. Excellent grindstone quar¬ 
ries are worked, and grindstones largely exported. The sandstone 
from these quarries, is beginning to be a prominent article of com¬ 
merce, being in some cases shipped for building purposes, as far west 
as Chicago. The following is a list of its townships, in 1840, with 
their population. 

Bedford, 2021 Independence, 754 Rockport, 1235 

Brecksville, 1124 Mayfield, 852 Royalton, 1051 

Brooklyn, 1409 Middleburg, 339 Solon, 774 

Cleveland, 7037 Newburg, 1342 Strongville, 1151 

Dover, 966 Olmstead, 659 Warrensville, 1085 

Euclid, 1774 Parma, 965 

The population of Cuyahoga, in 1810, was 1495; in 1820, 6328; 
in 1830, 10,362, and in 1840, 26,512, or 43 inhabitants to a square 
mile. 



120 


CUYAHOGA COUNTY. 


As early as 1755, there was a French station within the present limits of Cuyahoga. 

On Lewis Evans’ map of the middle Brit¬ 
ish colonies, published that year, there is 
marked upon the west bank of the Cuya¬ 
hoga, the words, “ French house,” which 
was doubtless the station of a French 
trader. The ruins of a house, supposed 
to be those of the one alluded to, have been 
discovered on Foot’s farm, in Brooklyn 
township, about five miles from the mouth 
of the Cuyahoga. The small engraving 
annexed, is from the map of Evans, and 
delineates the geography as in the ori¬ 
ginal. 

In 1786, the Moravian missionary Zeis- 
berger, with his Indian converts, left De¬ 
troit, and arrived at the mouth of the 
Cuyahoga, in a vessel called the Mack¬ 
inaw. From thence, they proceeded up 
the river about ten miles from the site of 
Cleveland, and settled in an abandoned village of the Ottawas, within the present limits of 
Independence, which they called Pilgerruh, i. e. Pilgrim’s rest. Their stay was brief, 
for in the April following, they left for Huron river, and settled near the site of Milan, 
Erie county, at a locality they named New Salem. 

The British, who, after the revolutionary war, refused to yield possession of the lake 
country west of the Cuyahoga, occupied to its shores until 1790. Their traders had a 
house in Ohio city, north of the Detroit road, on the point of the hill, near the river, when 
the surveyors first arrived here in 1796. From an early day, Washington, Jefferson and 
other leading Virginia statesmen regarded the mouth of the Cuyahoga, as an important 
commercial position. 

The first permanent settlement within the limits of Cuyahoga, was made at Cleveland, 
in the autumn of 1796. On the 4th of July previous, the first surveying party of the Re¬ 
serve, landed at Conneaut. In September and October, the corps laid out the city, which 
was named in honor of the land company’s agent, Gen. Moses Cleveland.* By the 18th 
of October, the surveyors quitted the place, leaving Mr. Job V. Stiles and family, and Mr. 
Edward Paine, who were the only persons that passed the winter of 1796 and ’7, within 
the limits of the town. Their lonely residence was a log cabin, which stood near the site 
of the Commercial bank. The nearest white settlement west, was at the mouth of the 
Raisin ; south or east at Fort M’lntosh, at the mouth of Big Beaver; and northeast, at 
Conneaut. Those families that wintered at Conneaut, suffered severely for want of food. 

The surveying party, on reaching the Reserve the succeeding season, again made Cleve¬ 
land their head quarters. Early this season, Elijah Gunn and Judge Kingsbury removed 
here from Conneaut, with their families, and in the fall, the latter removed to Newburg, 
where he still resides, at an advanced age. The little colony was increased also by the 
arrival of Major Lorenzo Carter and Ezekiel Hawley, with their families. 

In 1798, Rodolphus Edwards and Nathaniel Doane, with their families, settled in Cleve¬ 
land. To faintly show the difficulty of travelling at that time, it is stated that Mr. Doane 
was ninety-two days on his journey from Chatham, Conn. In the latter part of the sum¬ 
mer and in the fall, every person in the town was sick, either with the billious fever or the 
fever and ague. Mr. Doane’s family consisted of nine persons: the only one of them 
having sufficient strength to take care of them and bring a pail of water, was Seth Doane 
then a lad of thirteen years of age, and even he had daily attacks of the fever and ague. 
Such was the severity of the billious fever at that time, that a person having only daily 
attacks of fever and ague, was deemed lucky. There was much suffering for the want of 
food, particularly that proper for the sick. The only way this family was supplied, for two 



* Gen. Moses Cleveland was bom in Canterbury, Conn., about the year 1755, and 
graduated at Yale College, in 1777. He was bred a lawyer, and practised his profession 
in his native town. He married a sister of Gen. Henry Champion, of Colchester, and died 
at Canterbury, in 1806, leaving a large fortune. He was a man of note among his towns¬ 
men, and often represented them in the legislature of Connecticut. In person, he was of 
medium stature, thick set and portly, and of a very dark complexion. 




















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CUYAHOGA COUNTY. 


121 


months or more, was through the exertions of this boy, who daily, after having an attack 
of the ague, went to Judge Kingsbury’s, in Newburg—five miles distant—got a peck of 
corn, mashed it in a hand-mill, waited until a second attack of the ague was over, and 
then started on his return. There was at one time a space of several days when he was 
too ill to make the trip, during which, turnips comprised about all the vegetables the family 
had. Fortunately, Major Carter having only the fever and ague, was” enabled, through 
the aid of his hounds and trusty rifle, to procure abundance of venison and other wild 
game. His family being somewhat acclimated, suffered less than that of Mr. Doane. 
Their situation can scarcely be conceived of at the present day. Destitute of a physician, 
and with a few medicines, necessity taught them to use such means as nature had placed 
within their reach. For calomel, they substituted pills from the extract of the bark of the 
butternut, and in lieu of quinine, used dog wood and cherry bark. 

In November, four men, who had so far recovered as to have ague attacks no oftener 
than once in two or three days, started in the only boat for Walnut creek, Pa., to obtain a 
winter’s supply of flour for the colony. When below Euclid creek, a storm arose, drove 
them ashore, stove their boat in pieces, and it was with difficulty they saved their lives and 
regained the city. During the winter and summer following, the colony had no flour, ex¬ 
cept that ground in hand and coffee mills, which, for want of proper means to separate from 
the bran, was made into a bread similar to that of Graham’s. In this summer, the Conn, 
land company opened the first road on the Reserve, which commenced about ten miles 
from the lake on the Pennsylvania line, and extended to Cleveland. In January, ’99, Mr. 
Doane moved to Doane’s corners, and from that time until April, 1800—a space of fifteen 
months—Major Carter’s was the only white family in Cleveland. During the spring of 
’99, Wheeler W. Williams, from Norwich, Conn., and Major Wyatt, erected a small grist 
and a saw mill at the falls, on the site of Newburg, which being the first mill on the Re¬ 
serve, spread joy among the pioneers. A short time prior to this, each house in Cleveland 
had its own hand grist mill, in the chimney corner, which is thus described by one of the 
early settlers. “ The stones were of the common grindstone grit, and about four inches 
thick and twenty in diameter. The runner was turned by hand, with a pole set in the top 
of it, near the verge. The upper end of the pole went into another hole inserted into a 
board, and nailed on the under side of the joist, immediately over the hole in the verge of 
the runner. One person turned the stone, and another fed the corn into the eye with his 
hands. It was very hard work to grind, and the operators alternately changed places.” 

In 1800, several settlers came, among whom were David Clark and Major Amos Spaf- 
ford, and from this time the town slowly progressed. The first ball in Cleveland, was on 
the 4th of July, 1801, and was held at Major Carter’s log cabin, on the side hill; John 
and Benjamin Wood and R. II. Blinn, managers, and Major Samuel Jones, musician and 
master of ceremonies. The company consisted of about thirty, of both sexes. Mr. Jones’ 
proficiency on the violin, won him great favor. Notwithstanding the dancers had a rough 
puncheon floor, and no better beverage to enliven their spirits than whiskey, sweetened 
with maple sugar, yet it is doubtful if the anniversary of American independence was ever 
celebrated in Cleveland by a more joyful and harmonious company, than those who danced 
the scamper-down, double-shuffle, western-swing and half-moon, forty-six years ago in the 
log cabin of Major Carter. 

The Indians were accustomed, at this period, to meet every autumn at Cleveland, in 
great numbers, and pile up their canoes at the mouth of the Cuyahoga. From thence 
they scattered into the interior, and passed the winter in hunting. In the spring, they 
returned, disposed their furs to traders, and launching their bark canoes upon the lake, re¬ 
turned to their towns, in the region of the Sandusky and Maumee, where they remained 
until the succeeding autumn, to raise their crops of corn and potatoes. In this connection, 
we give an incident, showing the fearlessness and intrepidity of Major Lorenzo Carter, a 
native of Rutland, Vt., and a thorough pioneer, whose rough exterior covered a warm 
heart. Some time in the spring of ’99, the Chippewas and Ottawas, to the number of 
several hundred, having disposed of their furs, determined to have one of their drinking 
frolics at their camp, on the west bank of the Cuyahoga. As a precautionary measure, 
they gave up their tomahawks and other deadly weapons to their squaws to secrete, so 
that, in the height of their frenzy, they need not harm each other. They then sent to the 
Major for whiskey, from time to time, as they wanted it; and in proportion as they be¬ 
came intoxicated, he weakened it with water. After a while, it resulted in the Indians 
becoming partially sober, from drinking freely of diluted liquor: perceiving the trick, they 
became much enraged. Nine of them came on to the Major’s, swearing vengeance on 
him and family. Carter being apprised of their design, and knowing they were partially 
intoxicated, felt himself to be fully their match, although possessing but poor weapons of 

10 


122 


CUYAHOGA COUNTY. 


defence. Stationing himself beind his cabin door with a fire poker, he successively knocked 
down three or four, as they attempted to enter, and then leaping over their prostrate bodies, 
furiously attacked those on the outside, and drove them to their canoes. Soon after, a 
deputation of squaws came over to make peace with the Major, when, arming himself, he 
fearlessly repaired to their camp alone, and settled the difficulty. Such eventually became 
his influence over the Indians, that they regarded him as a magician, and many of them 
were made to believe that he could shoot them with a rifle, and not break their skins. 

The first militia muster in Cuyahoga county, was held on the 16th of June, 1806, at 
Doane’s Comers. Nathaniel Doane was captain ; Sylvanus Burke, lieutenant; and Sam¬ 
uel Jones, ensign, with about fifty privates. The surveying party being at Cleveland, and 
many strangers, this event attracted much attention. Never had so many whites been 
collected together in this vicinity, as on this occasion. The military marched and counter¬ 
marched to the lively roll of the drum of Joseph Burke, who had been dram major in the 
revolution, and the soul-stirring strains of the fife of Lewis Dill. “ Yankee Doodle,” 
“ Hail Columbia,” and “ Who’s Afeard,” were among the tunes that aroused the martial 
spirit of many a gallant heart, as he wielded, perhaps, some ancient relic of the revolution 
upon his shoulder. 

Early in the spring previous, a small boat, containing a Mr. Hunter, wife and child, a 
colored man named Ben, and a small colored boy, who were moving to Cleveland, were 
overtaken on the lake by a squall of wind, and driven ashore east of Rocky river. The 
bluff being perpendicular, they were unable to ascend. They, however, climbed up the 
rocks as far as possible—the surge constantly beating over them—with the vain hope that 
the storm would subside ; but on Saturday it increased, and during Sunday, Mrs. Hunter 
expired, the children having died previously. On Monday, Mr. Hunter expired. Black 
Ben held out until Tuesday, when, the storm subsiding, some French traders, going in a 
vessel from Cleveland to Detroit, discovered him, took him aboard, and returned with him 
to Cleveland. Thus, for three days and four nights, had he been without sleep or food, 
and with little clothing, exposed to the continued surge, and holding on for life to some 
small bushes in the crevices of the rocks. Ben was treated with great kindness by Major 
Carter, in whose family he remained an invalid over a year. 

Early the second spring succeeding, a similar incident occurred near the same place. 
Stephen Gilbert, Joseph Plumb, Adolphus Spafford and Mr. Gilmore started on a fishing 
expedition, for Maumee river, in a Canadian batteaux. They had aboard some goods 
and provisions, sent by Major Perry to his son Nathan, at Black river, and a hired woman, 
named Mary, as a passenger to that plaee. A Mr. White, of Newburg, and two sons of 
Mr. Plumb, not arriving in time, started by land for the mouth of Black river, intending to 
overtake the boat at that point. Pursuing the Indian trail, on the bank of the lake, they 
discovered, when about half way, the wreck of the boat on the beach, by the rocky shore, 
about sixty feet below them, in what is now Dover, and near it, Mr. Plumb, seriously in¬ 
jured, and suffering with cold. From him, they learned that a squall of wind had upset 
their boat, when about a mile from shore, and that all but him had drowned. 

They were all good swimmers but Plumb, who luckily got astraddle of the boat after it 
had upset, and floated ashore. The others made for the shore, Gilbert telling his com¬ 
panions to divest themselves of their clothing as much as possible: but all their efforts 
failed, the coldness of the water chilled them, so that they could not swim. Having learned 
the circumstances from Mr. Plumb, they made every effort to reach him, but were prevented 
by the steepness of the rocks. Mr. White and one of Mr. Plumb’s sons hastened to Black 
river, to procure means of relief, leaving the other son to comfort his father. After they 
left, he climbed up an iron-wood sapling, which bent with his weight, and dropping about 
thirty feet perpendicular, joined his parent. In the night, Quintus F. Atkins and Nathan 
Perry returned with White, and recovered Mr. Plumb, by hauling him up the bank with a 
rope, by the light of a torch. This was no easy task for men worn down by fatigue, Mr. 
Plumb’s weight being 220 pounds. The corpses of Gilmer and Spafford were afterwards 
found and buried at Cleveland ; that of the colored woman was discovered and interred at 
Black river. This was a melancholy event to the colony. Of the eighteen deaths that 
had taken place among the inhabitants of Cleveland, from the first settlement in 1796, a 
period of twelve years, eleven had been by drowning. During this time, the nearest settled 
physicians were at Hudson, 24, and Austinburg, 50 miles A 

On the 26th of June, 1812, an Indian, named O’Mic, was hung for murder, at Cleve¬ 
land, on the public square. Fearing an attempt at rescue on the part of the Indians, a 


* The preceding part of this historical sketch, is mainly from the mss. of John Barr, 
Esq., of Cleveland, who is collecting materials for a history of the Western Reserve. 




CUYAHOGA COUNTY. 


123 

large number of armed citizens from this and the adjoining counties assembled. AtVthe 
hour of execution, he objected to going upon the scaffold ; this difficulty was removedSby 
the promise of a pint of whiskey, which he swallowed, and then took his departure for the 
land of spirits. In 1813, Cleveland became a depot of supplies and rendezvous for troops 
engaged in the war. A small stockade was erected at the foot of Ontario street, on the 
lake bank, and a permanent garrison stationed here, under Major (now General) Jessup, 
of the U. S. army. The return of peace was celebrated by libations of whiskey and the 
roar of artillery. One worthy, known as “ Uncle Abram,” was much elevated on the occa¬ 
sion. He carried the powder in an open tin pail, upon his arm, while another, to touch off 
the gun, carried a stick with fire at the end, kept alive by swinging it through the air. 
Amid the general excitement, a spark found its way to Uncle Abram’s powder, about the 
time the gun was discharged; and his body was seen to rise twenty feet in the air, and 
return by its own gravity to the earth, blackened and destitute of clothing. He was dead, 
if his own vociferations were to be believed; but they were not, and he soon recovered 
from his wounds. 

Cleveland is at the northern termination of the Ohio canal, 139 
miles ne. from Columbus, 255 from Cincinnati, 130 from Pittsburg, 
190 from Buffalo, 455 from New York, and 130 from Detroit. It 
was incorporated as a village in 1814, and as a city in 1836. Ex¬ 
cepting a small portion of it on the river, it is situated on a gravelly 
plain, elevated about 100 feet above the lake, of which it has a most 
commanding prospect. Some of the common streets are 80 feet 
wide, and the principal business one, Main street, has the extraordi¬ 
nary width of 120 feet. It is one of the most beautiful towns in 
the Union, and much taste is displayed in the private dwellings and 
disposition of shrubbery. “ The location is dry and healthy, and the 
view of the meanderings of the Cuyahoga river, and of the steam¬ 
boats and shipping in the port, and leaving or entering it, and of the 
numerous vessels on the lake under sail, presents a prospect exceed¬ 
ingly interesting, from the high shore of the lake. 

“ Near the center of the place is a public square of ten acres, di¬ 
vided into four parts, by intersecting streets, neatly enclosed, and 
shaded with trees. The court house and one or two churches 
front on this square. 

“ The harbor of Cleveland is one of the best on Lake Erie. It is 
formed by the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, and improved by a pier 
on each side, extending 425 yards into the lake, 200 feet apart, and 
faced with substantial stone masonry. Cleveland is the great mart 
of the greatest grain-growing state in the Union, and it is the Ohio 
and Erie canals that have made it such, though it exports much by 
the way of the Welland canal to Canada. It has a ready connec¬ 
tion with Pittsburg, through the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal, which 
extends from the Ohio canal at Akron to Beaver creek, which 
enters the Ohio below Pittsburg. The natural advantages of this 
place are unsurpassed in the west, to which it has a large access by 
the lakes and the Ohio canal. But the Erie canal constitutes the 
principal source of its vast advantages ; without that great work, it 
would have remained in its former insignificance.” The construc¬ 
tion of two contemplated railroads, the first connecting Cleveland 
with Wellsville, on the Ohio; and the last, with Columbus, will add 
much to the business facilities of the place. 

The government of the city is vested in a mayor and council, 


124 


CUYAHOGA COUNTY. 


which consists of three members from each of the three wards into 
which the city is divided, and also an alderman from each ward. 
The following is a list of the mayors of the city since its organiza¬ 
tion, with the time of their election: John W. Willey, 1836 and 
1837; Joshua Mills, 1838 and 1839; Nicholas Dockstader, 1840; 
John W. Allen, 1841 ; Joshua Mills, 1842 ; Nelson Hayward, 1843 ; 
Sami. Starkweather, 1844 and 1845 ; George Hoadley, 1846, and 
J. A. Harris, 1847. 



Medical College. 


The Cleveland medical college, although established but four or 
five years, is in a very flourishing condition, and has gained so 
much in public estimation, as to be equalled in patronage by only 
one or two similar institutions in the west. It has seven professors, 
and all the necessary apparatus and facilities for instruction. 

In 1837, the government purchased nine acres on the height over¬ 
looking the lake, for the purpose of erecting a marine hospital; up 
to the present time, but little more than the foundation has been laid. 
It is to be of Ionic architecture, of hewn stone, and will combine 
convenience and beauty. 

There are in Cleveland a large number of mercantile and mechan¬ 
ical establishments, 4 banks, 3 daily, 6 weekly, and 1 semi-monthly 
newspapers, and 21 religious societies, viz: 3 Episcopal, 2 Presby¬ 
terian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Baptist, 1 Catholic, 1 Bethel, 1 Wes¬ 
leyan Methodist, 1 German Evangelical Protestant, 1 German Mis¬ 
sion Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 1 German Evan¬ 
gelical Lutheran, 1 Evangelical Association of North America, 1 
Associate Presbyterian, 1 Seceder, 1 Disciples, 1 Jewish, 1 Univer- 
salist and 2 Second Advent. The business of the port of Cleveland, 
both by canal and lake, is very heavy, and constantly increasing. 
The number of arrivals by lake, in 1845, was 2136; of these, 927 



































CUYAHOGA COUNTY, 


125 


were steamers. The tonnage then owned at this port, amounted to 
13,493, and number of vessels, of all kinds, 85. The total value of the 
imports and exports by the lake, was over $9,000,000. 

The population of Cleveland, on the east side of the Cuyahoga, 
was, in the year 1796, 3; 1798, 16; 1825, 500; 1831, 1100; 1835, 
5080 ; 1840, 6071, and 1846, 10,135. Of the last, 6780 were natives 
of the United States ; 1472 of Germany ; 808 of England; 632 of 
Ireland ; 144 of Canada; 97 of the Isle of Man, and 96 of Scotland. 

Ohio city is beautifully situated on a commanding eminence on the 
west side of the Cuyahoga, opposite Cleveland. It was incorporated 
as a city, March 3d, 1836, and its government vested in a mayor and 
council. The city is divided into three wards, and is well laid out 
and built. There are three churches, viz.: 1 Presbyterian, 1 Metho¬ 
dist Episcopal and 1 Episcopalian—the last of which is a Gothic 
structure of great beauty. The population of Ohio city, in 1840, 
was 1,577, and in 1845, 2,462. 



Chagrin Falls. 

The village of Chagrin Falls is in the new township of the same 
name, on Chagrin river, 17 miles se. from Cleveland. 

The name Chagrin, originally applied to the river, then to the present village of Wil¬ 
loughby, in Lake county, and later to this town, “ is supposed to have been derived from 
the sore disappointment of some surveyors who mistook it for the Cuyahoga river, and 
followed their respective lines to the lake. It had, however, long beep previously known 
by that name, in consequence, it is said, of the wreck and sufferings of a French crew near 
its mouth, the particulars of which have not been preserved.” In Evans’ map, published in 
1755, the river is called " Elk.” Prior to the war of 1812, the Indians were numerous in 
this vicinity. In July, 1817, a person now living in the village, in company with another, 
visited the spot and killed a variety of wild game, such as bears, deer, turkeys, &c., and 
a short distance east, alarmed a drove of from 40 to 50 elk. There were then several 
ancient mounds and burial places on the village site. On the 1st of April, 1833, two 
families commenced the foundation of the settlement, and on that day the first blow was 
struck with an axe upon the village site, and shortly after a log house and saw mill built 
where the furnace now stands. In the succeeding fall, the town was laid out by Noah 
Graves and Dr. S. S. Handerson. It was commenced without cash capital, and has been 
built up by the indefatigable enterprise of its inhabitants, many of whom are of Connecticut 











126 


CUYAHOGA COUNTY. 


origin. For want of money, bartering and exchange of labor has been extensively prac¬ 
tised. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, the village has scarcely an equal in Ohio in 
its rapid progress from a wilderness to a flourishing town. All that it requires to make it 
a large place, is a canal or railroad, to furnish transportation facilities to Lake Erie. 

Chagrin Falls contains 1 Congregational, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 

1 Wesleyan Methodist and 1 Free Will Baptist church; 1 academy, 
9 mercantile stores, 1 axe and edge tool, 1 sash, 1 wheel and 
wheel head, 1 wooden bowl and three woolen factories; 1 paper, 

2 flouring and 3 saw mills ; 1 printing office and bindery ; 1 furnace 
and machine establishment, 1 carriage, 2 tin, 3 harness and 3 cabinet 
shops, and about 1,200 inhabitants. The Cleveland and Pittsburg 
stages pass through the town, and a carriage daily runs to the 
former place. Near the village is an inexhaustible grindstone 
quarry, which is extensively worked. The township of Chagrin 
Falls was organized in June, 1844, within which, including the vil¬ 
lage, there is a fall of 225 feet in the river, about one third of which 
is improved. The view shows the village as it appears from an 
elevation below, called either the side or slide bank. It was drawn 
and engraved by Mr. Jehu Brainerd of Cleveland. In the distance 
represented, the river has about one hundred feet descent. 

We introduce an incident in the life of an early settler, a lady, 
who was recently living but a few miles distant from Chagrin Falls. 

Joel Thorp, with his wife Sarah, moved with an ox team, in May, ’99, from North 
Haven, Connecticut, to Millsford, in Ashtabula county, and were the first settlers in that 
region. They soon had a small clearing on and about an old beaver dam, which was very 
rich and mellow. Towards the first of June, the family being short of provisions, Mr. 
Thorp started off alone to procure some through the wilderness, with no guide but a pocket 
compass, to the nearest settlement, about 20 miles distant, in Pennsylvania. His family, 
consisting of Mrs. Thorp and three children, the oldest child, Basil, being but eight years 
of age, were before his return reduced to extremities for the want of food. They were 
compelled, in a measure, to dig for and subsist on roots, which yielded but little nourish¬ 
ment. The children in vain asked food, promising to be satisfied with the least possible 
portion. The boy Basil remembered to have seen some kernels of corn in a crack of one 
of the logs of the cabin, and passed hours in an unsuccessful search for them. Mrs. Thorp 
emptied the straw out of her bed and picked it over to obtain the little wheat it contained, 
which she boiled and gave to her children. Her husband, it seems, had taught her to 
shoot at a mark, in which she acquired great skill. When all her means for procuring 
food were exhausted, she saw, as she stood in her cabin door, a wild turkey flying near. 
She took down her husband’s rifle, and, on looking for ammunition, was surprised to find 
only sufficient for a small charge. Carefully cleaning the barrel, so as not to lose any by 
its sticking to the sides as it went down, she set some apart for priming and loaded the 
piece with the remainder, and started in pursuit of the turkey, reflecting that on her success 
depended the lives of herself and children. Under the excitement of her feelings she came 
near defeating her object, by frightening the turkey, which flew a short distance and again 
alighted in a potato patch. Upon this, she returned to the house and waited until the fowl 
had begun to wallow in the loose earth. On her second approach, she acted with great 
caution and coolness, creeping slyly on her hands and knees from log to log until she had 
gained the last obstruction between herself and the desired object. It was now a trying 
moment, and a crowd of emotions passed through her mind as she lifted the rifle to a level 
with her eye. She fired ; the result was fortunate: the turkey was killed and herself and 
family preserved from death by her skill. Mrs. Thorp married three times. Her first 
husband was killed, in Canada, in the war of 1812 ; her second was supposed to have been 
murdered. Her last husband’s name was Gordiner. She died in Orange, in this county. 
Nov. 1st, 1846. 

Bedford, on the Pittsburg road, 12 miles from Cleveland, has 1 


DARKE COUNTY. 


127 


Baptist, 1 Methodist and 1 Disciples church; 3 stores, 1 flouring and 
3 saw mills, 1 woolen factory and about 80 dwellings. Newberg, 
6 miles from Cleveland, on the same road with the above, has 1 
Presbyterian and 1 Methodist church and a few dwellings. Euclid, 
a beautiful village, 8 miles east of Cleveland, has 1 Presbyterian, 1 
Disciples church, 1 academy, 4 stores and 42 dwellings. Two miles 
east of it is the smaller village of East Euclid, which has 1 Baptist 
and 1 Methodist church. The Presbyterian church at Euclid, built 
in 1817, was the first frame meeting-house, with a spire, erected on 
the Reserve. 

The township of Euclid (says the Barr mss.) was purchased of the Western Reserve Land 
Company under peculiar circumstances. While the surveyors of the Reserve were about 
to commence operations, they found some disposition among their men in camp to strike 
for higher wages. To settle this difficulty, Gen. Cleveland, the agent, agreed that a town¬ 
ship should be surveyed and set apart, so that each individual of the party who should desire 
, might have the privilege of purchasing a lot on long credit and at a stipulated price. This 
settled the difficulty, and this township was the one selected. In 1798, Joseph Burke and 
family, and in 1801, Timothy Doane and family,, settled in Euclid. 

Albion and Strongville are two connecting villages, scattered 
along on the Cleveland and Columbus road, about 14 miles from the 
former, and contain 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist, 1 Baptist and 1 
Episcopal church; 3 stores, 1 woolen factory and about 80 dwell¬ 
ings. On the same road, about 4 miles from Cleveland, and sepa¬ 
rated by a creek, are the small villages of Brooklyn Centre and 
Brighton, jointly containing 1 Presbyterian and 2 Methodist churches. 
In the western part of the county, on branches of Rocky river, are 
the small but thriving manufacturing villages of Norris Falls and 
Berea. Rockport, Doan’s Corners and Warrensville, are small 
places. At or near the latter, is a settlement of Manks —a term ap¬ 
plied to natives of the Isle of Man. 


DARKE. 

Darke was formed, Jan. 3d, 1809, from Miami county, and or¬ 
ganized in March, 1817. The surface is generally level, and has 
some prairie land. It is well timbered with poplar, walnut, blue 
ash, sugar maple, hickory and beech. Much of it is well adapted 
to grazing, and it produces superior wheat. The following is a list 
of its townships in 1840, with their population. 


Adams, 

698 

Gibson, 276 

Richland, 

589 

Allen, 

194 

Greenville, 1851 

Twin, 

1047 

Brown, 

293 

Harrison, 1666 

Van Buren, 

421 

Butler, 

1116 

Jackson, 304 

Washington, 

898 

Franklin, 

291 

Mississinewa, 124 

Wayne, 

727 

German, 

1173 

Neave, 635 

York, 

371 


Population of Darke, in 1820, was 3717; in 1830, 6204; and in 
1840, 13,145, or 20 inhabitants to a square mile. 



128 


DARKE COUNTY. 


Gen. Wm. Darke, from whom this county derived its name, was born in Pennsylvania, 
in 1736, and removed at the age of five years, with his parents to near Shepherdstown, 
Va. He was with the Virginia provincials at Braddock’s defeat, taken prisoner in the rev¬ 
olutionary war, at Germantown, commanded as colonel, two Virginia regiments at the 
siege of York, was a member of the Virginia Convention, of ’88, and was repeatedly a 
member of the legislature of that ancient commonwealth. He distinguished himself at 
St. Clair’s defeat, and died, Nov. 20th, 1801. Gen. Darke was by profession a farmer. 
He possessed an herculean frame, rough manners, a strong but uncultivated mind, and 
a frank and fearless disposition. 

This county has been the theatre of two important events in the 
early history of the west,—St. Clair’s defeat and the treaty of 
Greenville. The first in order of time, was the defeat of St. Clair, 
which took place on the northern boundary of the county, wdthin 
two or three miles of the Indiana line. 

The great object of St. Clair’s campaign was to establish a mil¬ 
itary post at the Miami village, at the junction of the St. Mary 
and St. Joseph, at what is now Fort Wayne, la., with intermediate 
posts of communication between it and Fort Washington, to awe 
and curb the Indians in that quarter, as the only preventive of fu¬ 
ture hostilities. 

Acting under his instructions, St. Clair proceeded to organize his 
army. At the close of April, (1791,) he was at Pittsburg, to which 
point troops and munitions of war were being forwarded. On the 
15th of May, he reached Fort Washington, but owing to various 
hindrances, among which was the mismanagement of the quarter¬ 
master’s department, the troops instead of being in readiness to start 
upon the expedition, by the 1st of August, as was anticipated, were 
not prepared until many weeks later. From Fort Washington, the 
troops were advanced to Ludlow’s station, six miles distant. Here 
the army continued until Sept. 17th, when being 2300 strong, exclu¬ 
sive of militia, they moved forward to a point upon the Great Miami, 
where they built Fort Hamilton. From thence, they moved forty 
four miles farther, and built Fort Jefferson, which they left on the 
24th of October, and began their toilsome march through the wild¬ 
erness. We copy below from the Notes of Judge Burnet. 

During this time, a body of the militia, amounting to three hundred, deserted, and re¬ 
turned to their homes. The supplies for the army being still in the rear, and the general 
entertaining fears that the deserters might meet and sieze them for their own use, deter¬ 
mined, very reluctantly, to send back the first regiment, for the double purpose of bring¬ 
ing up the provisions, and, if possible, of overtaking and arresting some of the deserters. 

Having made that arrangement, the army resumed its march, and on the 3d of Novem¬ 
ber, arrived at a creek running to the southwest, which was supposed to be the St. Mary’s, 
one of the principal branches of the Maumee, but was afterwards ascertained to be a branch 
of the Wabash. It being then late in the afternoon, and the army much fatigued by a la¬ 
borious march, they were encamped on a commanding piece of ground, having the creek 
in front. 

It was the intention of the general to occupy that position till the first regiment, with 
the provisions, should come up. He proposed on the next day, to commence a work of de¬ 
fence, agreeably to a plan concerted between himself and Maj. Ferguson, but he was not 
permitted to do either ; for on the next morning, November 4th, half an hour before sun¬ 
rise, the men having been just dismissed from parade, an attack was made on the militia 
posted in front, who gave way and rushed back into the camp, throwing the army into a state 
of disorder, from which it could not be recovered, as the Indians followed close at their 
heels. They were, however, checked a short time by the fire of the first line, but immedi- 


DARKE COUNTY. 


129 


ately a very heavy fire was commenced on that line, and in a few minutes it was extended 
to the second. 

In each case, the great weight of the fire was directed to the center, where the artillery 
was placed ; from which the men were frequently driven with great slaughter. In that 
emergency resort was had to the bayonet. Col. Darke was ordered to make the charge 
with a part of the second line, which order was executed with great spirit. The Indians 
instantly gave way, and were driven back several hundred yards, but for want of a sufficient 
number of riflemen to preserve the advantage gained, the enemy soon renewed their at¬ 
tack, and the American troops, in turn, were forced to give away. 

At that instant, the Indians entered the American camp on the left, having forced back 
the troops stationed at that point. Another charge was then ordered and made by the bat¬ 
talions of Majors Butler and Clark, with great success. Several other charges were after¬ 
wards made, and always with equal effect. These attacks, however, were attended with a 
very heavy loss of men, and particularly of officers. In the charge made by the second 
regiment, Maj. Butler was dangerously wounded ; and every officer of that regiment fell, 
except three, one of whom was shot through the body. The artillery being silenced, and 
all the officers belonging to it killed, but Capt. Ford, who was dangerously wounded, and 
half the army having fallen, it became necessary to gain the road, if possible, and make a 
retreat. 

For that purpose, a successful charge was made on the enemy, as if to turn their right 
flank, but in reality, to gain the road, which was effected. The militia then commenced a 
retreat, followed by the United States’ troops, Maj. Clark, with his battalion, covering the 
rear. The retreat, as might be expected, soon became a flight. The camp was aban¬ 
doned, and so was the artillery, for the want of horses to remove it. The men threw 
away their arms and accoutrements, even after the pursuit had ceased, which was not con¬ 
tinued more than four miles. The road was almost covered with those articles, for a great 
distance. 

All the horses of the general were killed, and he was mounted on a broken down pack- 
horse, that could scarcely be forced out of a walk. It was therefore impossible for him to 
get forward in person, to command a halt, till regularity could be restored, and the orders 
which he dispatched by others, for that purpose, were wholly unattended to. The rout 
continued to Fort Jefferson, where they arrived about dark, twenty seven miles from the 
battle-ground. The retreat began at half past nine in the morning, and as the battle com¬ 
menced half an hour before sunrise, it must have lasted three hours, during which time, 
with only one exception, the troops behaved with great bravery. This fact accounts for the 
immense slaughter which took place. 

Among the killed, were Maj. Gen. Butler, Col. Oldham, Major Ferguson, Maj. Hart, 
and Maj. Clark. Among the wounded, were Col. Sargeant, the Adjutant General, Col. 
Darke, Col. Gibson, Maj. Butler, and Viscount Malartie, who served in the character of an 
aid. In addition to these, the list of officers killed contains the names of Captains Brad¬ 
ford, Phelon, Kirkwood, Price, Van Swearingen, Tipton, Purdy, Smith, Piatt, Gaither, 
Crebbs,‘and Newman : Lieutenants Spear, Warren, Boyd, McMath, Burgess, Kelso, Read, 
Little, Hopper, and Lickins; also, Ensigns Cobb, Balch, Chase, Turner, Wilson, Brooks, 
Beatty, and Purdy ; also, Quartermasters Reynolds and Ward, Audj. Anderson and Doc. 
Grasson. And in addition to the wounded officers whose names are mentioned above, 
the official list contains the names of Captains Doyle, Trueman, Ford, Buchanan, Darke, 
and Hough ; also, of Lieutenants Greaton, Davidson, DeButts, Price, Morgan, McCrea, 
Lysle, and Thompson ; also, Adjutants Whistler and Crawford, and Ensign Bines. 

The melancholy result of that disastrous day was felt and lamented by all, who had sym¬ 
pathy for private distress, or public misfortune. 

The only charge alledged by the general against his army, was want of discipline, which 
they could not have acquired, during the short time they had been in the service. That 
defect rendered it impossible, when they were thrown into confusion, to restore them again 
to order, and is the chief reason why the loss fell so heavily on the officers. They were 
compelled to expose themselves in an unusual degree in their efforts to rally the men, and 
remedy the want of discipline. In that duty, the general set the example, though worn 
down by sickness, and suffering under a painful disease. It was alledged by the officers, 
that the Indians far outnumbered the American troops. That conclusion was drawn, in 
part, from the fact, that they outflanked and attacked the American lines with great force, 
at the same time, on every side. 

When the fugitives arrived at Fort Jefferson, they found the first regiment, which was 
just returning from the service on which it had been sent, without either overtaking the de¬ 
serters, or meeting the convoy of provisions. The absence of that regiment, at the time 

17 


130 


DARKE COUNTY. 


of the battle, was believed by some, to be the cause of the defeat. They supposed, that 
had it been present, the Indians would have been defeated, or would not have ven¬ 
tured an attack at the time they made it; but Gen. St. Clair expressed great doubt on that 
subject. He seemed to think it uncertain, judging from the superior number of the enemy, 
whether he ought to consider the absence of that corps from the field of action, as fortunate 
or otherwise. On the whole, he seemed to think it fortunate, as he very much doubted, 
whether, if it had been in the action, the fortune of the day would have been changed ; 
and if it had not, the triumph of the enemy would have been more complete, and the coun¬ 
try would have been left destitue of the means of defence. 

As soon as the troops reached Fort Jefferson, it became a question whether they ought 
to continue at that place, or return to Fort Washington. For the purpose of determining 
that question, the general called on the surviving field officers, to wit: Col. Darke, Major 
Hamtramck, Maj. Zeigler, and Maj. Gaither, and also the Adjutant General, Col. Sar- 
geant, for their advice, as to what would be the proper course to be pursued, under existing 
circumstances. After discussing the subject, they reported it to be their unanimous opin¬ 
ion, that the troops could not be accommodated in the fort; that they could not be supplied 
with provisions, at that place ; and as it was known there were provisions on the road, at the 
distance of one or two marches, it would be proper, without loss of time, to proceed and 
meet them. That advice was adopted, and the army put in motion at 10 o’clock, and 
marched all night. On the succeeding day, they met a quantity of flour, and on the day 
after, a drove of cattle, which having been disposed of, as the wants of the troops required, 
the march was continued to Fort Washington. 

The loss sustained by the country, from the fall of so many gallant officers and men, was 
most seriously regretted. Gen. Butler and Maj. Ferguson, were spoken of with peculiar 
interest. The public feeling was, however, in some measure alleviated, by the fact, that 
those brave men, officers and privates, fell covered with honor, in defending the cause of 
their country. 

The principal complaint made by the commander-in-chief was, that some of his orders, 
of great consequence, given to Col. Oldham, over night, were not executed ; and that some 
very material intelligence, communicated by Capt. Hough, to Gen. Butler, in the course of 
the night, before the action, was not imparted to him ; and that he did not hear of it, till his 
arrival at Fort Washington. 

It is important to the fame of the commanding general, that in consequence of the al¬ 
most treasonable negligence of the agents of government, whose duty it was to furnish 
supplies, the army had been for many days on short allowance, and were so at the time of 
the battle. That fact had made it indispensably necessary, either to retreat, or send back 
the first regiment, which was the flower of the army, to bring up the provisions and mil¬ 
itary stores. The latter alternative was chosen, and in the absence of that corps, the at¬ 
tack was made. 

In regard to the negligence charged on the War Department, it is a well-authenticated 
fact, that boxes and packages were so carelessly put up and marked, that during the action 
a box was opened marked “ flints,” which was found to contain gun-locks. Several mis¬ 
takes of the same character were discovered, as for example, a keg of powder marked “ for 
the infantry,” was found to be damaged cannon-powder, that could scarcely be ignited. 

Under all these disadvantages, it was generally believed by candid intelligent men that 
the commanding general was not justly liable to much censure, if any. With one excep¬ 
tion, at the commencement of the action, the troops behaved with great bravery. They 
maintained their ground for three tedious hours, in one uninterrupted conflict with a supe¬ 
rior force ; nor did they attempt to leave the field, till it was covered with the bodies of 
their companions, nor until further efforts were unavailing, and a retreat was ordered 

The general, less anxious for himself than for others, was the last to leave the ground, 
after the retreat had been ordered. For sometime after the disaster, he was universally 
censured ; but when a thorough investigation had been made by a committee of Congress 
of which Mr. Giles, of Virginia, was the chairman, it was found that the campaign had 
been conducted with skill and personal bravery ; and that the defeat was chiefly owing to 
the want of discipline in the militia, and to the negligence of those whose duty it was to 
procure and forward the provisions and military stores, necessary for the expedition. 

After the publication of that report, the Secretary of War, believing himself to be in¬ 
jured, addressed a letter to Congress, complaining that injustice had been done him by the 
committee ; m consequence of which the report was recommitted to the same committee, 
who, alter hearing the statements and explanations of the Secretary, and reconsidering 
the whole matter, re-affirmed their first report. 

This defeat oi St. Clair drew upon his head, from one part of the 


DARKE COUNTY. 


131 


country to the other, “ one loud and merciless outcry of abuse and 
even detestation.” Many a general, with far less bravery and mili¬ 
tary skill, has, when successful, been applauded by the unthinking 
multitude with vehement acclamations. The following, derived from 
the narrative of his campaign, shows that he deserved a better fate. 

During the engagement, Gen. St. Clair and Gen. Butler were continually going up and 
down the lines; as one went up one, the other went down the opposite. St. Clair was so 
severely afflicted with the gout as to be unable to mount or dismount a horse without assis¬ 
tance. He had four horses for his use ; they had been turned out to feed over night and 
were brought in before the action. The first he attempted to mount was a young horse, and 
the firing alarmed him so much that he was unable to accomplish it, although there were 
three or four people assisting him. He had just moved him to a place where he could have 
some advantage of the ground, when the horse was shot through the head, and the boy that 
was holding him through the arm. A second horse was brought, and the furniture of the 
first disengaged and put on him ; but at the moment it was done, the horse and servant 
who held him were killed. The general then ordered the third horse to be got ready and 
follow him to the left of the front line, which by that time was warmly engaged, and set 
off on foot to the point designated. However, the man and horse were never heard of after¬ 
ward, and were supposed to have both been killed. Gen. St. Clair’s fourth horse was kill¬ 
ed under the Count de Malartie, one of his aids, whose horse had died on the march. 

On the day of the battle, St. Clair was not in his uniform ; he wore a coarse cappo coat 
and a three-cornered hat. He had a long que and large locks, very gray, flowing beneath 
his beaver. Early in the action, when near the artillery, a ball grazed the side of his face 
and cut off a portion of one of his locks. It is said, that, during the action, eight balls passed 
through his clothes and hat. After his horses were killed, he exerted himself on foot, for a 
considerable time during the action, with a degree of alertness that surprised every body who 
saw him. After being on foot some time, and when nearly exhausted, a pack horse was 
brought to him. This he rode during the remainder of the day, although he could scarcely 
prick him out of a walk. Had he not been furnished with a horse, although unhurt, he 
must have remained on the field. 

During the action, Gen. St. Clair exerted himself with a courage and presence of mind 
worthy of the best fortune. He was personally present at the first charge made upon the 
enemy with the bayonet, and gave the order to Col. Darke. When the enemy first entered 
the camp by the left flank, he led the troops that drove them back; and when a retreat 
became indispensable, he put himself at the head of the troops which broke through the 
enemy and opened the way for the rest, and then remained in the rear, making every ex¬ 
ertion in his power to obtain a party to cover the retreat; but the panic was so great that 
his exertions were of but little avail. In the height of the action, a few of the men crowded 
around the fires in the center of the camp. St. Clair was seen drawing his pistols and 
threatening some of them, and ordering them to turn out and repel the enemy. 

In commenting upon his honorable acquittal of all blame by the 
committee of Congress, appointed to inquire into the causes of the 
failure of the expedition, Judge Marshall, in his Life of Washington, 
remarks, with his usual felicity of manner, “ More satisfactory testi¬ 
mony in favor of St. Clair is furnished by the circumstance, that he 
still retained the undiminished esteem and good opinion of President 
Washington.” 

To the foregoing description of the battle, we extract from the 
narrative of Major Jacob Fowler, now living in Covington, Ky., his 
own personal experience in the events of that fatal day. Mr. Cist, 
in his Advertiser, in which it was published, says: “ There was 
hardly a battle fought, in the early struggles with the Indians, in 
which Mr. Fowler did not participate. He is now (July, 1844) at 
the age of eighty—his eye has not waxed dim, nor his natural force 
abated. He can still pick off a squirrel with his rifle at 100 yards 
distance. He can walk as firmly and as fast as most men at fifty, 


132 


DARKE COUNTY. 


and I cannot perceive a gray hair in his head. His mind and memory 
are as vigorous as his physical functions.” 

Excepting in a single instance, St. Clair kept out no scouting parties during his march, 
and we should have been completely surprised by the attack when it was made, if it had 
not been that volunteer scouting parties from the militia were out the evening before, and 
the constant discharge of rifles throughout the night warned us to prepare for the event. 
The militia were encamped about a quarter of a mile in front of the residue of the army, so as 
to receive, as they did, the first shock of the attack, which was made a little after daybreak. 
The camp was on the bank of a small creek, one of the heads of the Wabash river, the ground 
nearly level and covered with a heavy growth of timber. As surveyor, I drew the pay and 
rations of a subaltern, but, as an old hunter, was not disposed to trust myself among the 
Indians without my rifle. Indeed I found it very serviceable during the march, the army 
being upon not more than half rations the whole campaign. 

My stock of bullets becoming pretty low, from hunting, as soon as it was daylight that 
morning, I started for the militia camp to get a ladle for running some more, when I found 
that the battle had begun, and met the militia running in to the main body of the troops. 
I hailed one of the Kentuckians, who I found had been disabled in the right wrist by a bul¬ 
let, asking him if he had balls to spare. He told me to take out his pouch and divide with 
him. I poured out a double handful and put back what I supposed was the half, and was 
about to leave him, when he said, “ stop, you had better count them.” It was no time for 
laughing, but I could hardly resist the impulse to laugh, the idea was so ludicrous of count¬ 
ing a handfull of bullets when they were about to be so plenty as to be had for the picking 
up, by those who should be lucky enough to escape with their lives. “ If we get through 
this day’s scrape, my dear fellow,” said I, “ I will return you twice as many.” But I never 
saw him again, and suppose he shared the fate that befel many a gallant spirit on that day. 
I owe the bullets, at any rate, at this moment. 

On returning to the lines, I found the engagement begun. One of Capt. Pratt’s men lay 
near the spot I had left, shot through the belly. I saw an Indian behind a small tree, not 
twenty steps off, just outside the regular lines. He was loading his piece, squatting down 
as much as possible to screen himself. I drew sight at his butt and shot him through ; he 
dropped, and as soon as I had fired I retreated into our lines to reload my rifle. Finding 
the fire had really ceased at this point, I ran to the rear line, where I met Col. Darke, lead¬ 
ing his men to a charge. These were of the six months’ levies. I followed with my rifle. 
The Indians were driven by this movement clear out of sight, and the colonel called a halt 
and rallied his men, who were about 300 in number. As an experienced woodsman and 
hunter, I claimed the privilege of suggesting to the colonel that where we then stood—there 
being a pile of trees blown out of root—would form an excellent breastwork, being of length 
sufficient to protect the whole force, and that we might yet need it; I judged by the shout¬ 
ing and firing that the Indians behind us had closed up the gap we had made in charging, 
and told the colonel so. Now, if we return and charge on these Indians on our rear, we 
shall have them with their backs on us, and will no doubt be able to give a good account 
of them. “ Lead the way, then,” said he, and rode to the rear to march the whole body 
forward. We then charged on the Indians, but they were so thick we could do nothing 
with them. In a few minutes they were around us, and we found ourselves along side of 
the army-baggage and the artillery, which they had been taking possession of. I then took 
a tree, and after firing twelve or fourteen times, two or three rods being my farthest shot, I 
discovered that many of those I had struck were not brought down, as I had not sufficient 
experience to know I must shoot them in the hip to bring them down. As to the regulars, 
with their muskets, and in their unprotected state, it was little better than firing at random.’ 

By this time, there were but about 30 men of Col. Darke’s command left standing, the rest 
being all shot down and lying around us, either killed or wounded. I ran to the colonel, who 
was in the thickest of it, waving his sword to encourage his men, and told him we should 
all be down in five minutes more if we did not charge on them. “ Charge, then !” said he 
to the little line that remained, and they did so. Fortunately, the army had charged on the’ 
other side at the same time, which put the Indians, for the moment, to the flight I had 
been partially sheltered by a small tree ; but a couple of Indians, who had taken a larger 
one, both filed at me at once, and, feeling the steam of their guns at my bellv, I supposed 
myself cut to pieces. But no harm had been done, and I brought my piece to my side and 
fired, without aiming at the one that stood his ground, the fellow being so close to me that 
I could haidly miss him. I shot him through the hips, and while he was crawling away on 
all fouls, Col. Darke, who had been dismounted, and stood close by me, made at him with 
fcis sword and struck his head off. By this time, the cock of my rifle lock had worn loose 


DARKE COUNTY. 


133 


and gave me much trouble ; meeting with an acquaintance from Cincinnati, named M’Clure, 
who had no gun of his own, but picked up one from a militia man, I told him my difficulty. 
“ There is a first-rate rifle,” said he, pointing to one at a distance. I ran and got it, having 
ascertained that my bullets would fit it. 

Here I met Capt. J. S. Gano, who was unarmed, and handing to him the rifle I went into 
battle with, I observed to him that we were defeated, and would have to make our own 
escape as speedily as possible ; that if we got off, we should need the rifles for subsistence 
in the woods. The battle still raged, and at one spot might be seen a party of soldiers 
gathered together, having nothing to do but to present mere marks for the enemy. They 



Plan of St. Clair's Battle Field. 

appeared stupified and bewildered with the danger. At another spot, the soldiers had 
broken into the marquees of the officers, eating the breakfast from which those had 
been called into the battle. It must be remembered, that neither officers nor men had eaten 
anything the whole morning. Some of the men were shot down in the very act of eating. 
Just where I stood, there were no Indians visible, although their rifle balls were striking all 
around. At last, I saw an Indian break for a tree about 40 yards off, behind which he 
loaded and fired four times, bringing down his man at every fire, and with such quickness 
as to give me no chance to take sight in the intervals of his firing. At length, I got a 
range of two inches inside his back bone and blazed away ; down he fell, and I saw no 
more of him. 

A short time after, I heard the cry given by St. Clair and his adjutant sergeant to charge 
to the road, which was accordingly done. I ran across the army to where I had left my 
relative, Capt. Piatt, and told him that the army was broken up and in full retreat. “ Don’t 
say so,” he replied; “ you will discourage my men, and I can’t believe it.” I persisted a 
short time, when, finding him obstinate, I said, “ If you will rush on your fate, in God’s 
name do it.” I then ran off towards the rear of the army, which was making off rapidly. 

Piatt called after me, saying, “ Wait for me.” It was no use to stop, for by this time 
the savages were in full chase and hardly twenty yards behind me. Being uncommonly 
active in those days, I soon got from the rear to front of the troops, although I had great 
trouble to avoid the bayonets which the men had thrown off in the retreat, with the sharp 
points towards their pursuers. 

It has been stated that the Indians followed us 30 miles, but this is not true, and my duty 
as surveyor having led me to mark the miles every day as we proceeded on our march out, 
it was easy to ascertain how far we were pursued. The Indians, after every other fire, fell 

back to load their rifles, and gained lost time by running on afresh.Even during the last 

charge of Col. Darke, the bodies of the dead and the dying were around us, and the freshly 














134 


DARKE COUNTY. 


scalped heads were reeking with smoke, and, in the heavy morning frost, looked like so 
many pumpkins through a cornfield in December. It was on the 4th November, and the 
day severely cold for the season ; my fingers became so benumbed at times, that I had to 
take the bullets in my mouth and load from it, while I had the wiping stick in my hand to 
force them down. 

References. —A. High ground, on which the militia were encamp¬ 
ed at the commencement of the action. B. C. Encampment of the 
main army. D. Retreat of the militia at the beginning of the battle. 
E. St. Clair’s trace, on which the defeated army retreated. F. 
Place where Gen. Butler and other officers were buried. G. Trail 
to Gurty’s Town, on the river St. Marys, at what is now the village 
of St. Marys. H. Site of Fort Recovery, built by Wayne ; the line of 
Darke and Mercer runs within a few rods of the site of the fort. I. 
Place where a brass cannon was found buried, in 1830: it is on the 
bottom where the Indians were three times driven to the high land 
with the bayonet. 

The map of the battle-ground is from the survey of Mr. John S. 
Houston, of Celina. The localities* were pointed out to him by Mr. 
M’Dowl, who was in the action, and is now living near Recovery. 
In a letter, dated Celina, March 20th, 1847, Mr. Houston gives some 
notes of a conversation with Mr. M’Dowl. 

Mr. M’Dowl states, that on the morning of the battle, he and several others had just 
gone out to look after and guard their horses, when suddenly they heard the most hideous 
yells from the opposite side of the river, with discharges of musketry. He instantly rushed 
to camp, found his regiment repairing for action, joined them, and was with the party who 
so gallantly charged the enemy in the bottom. On the retreat, he was among those who 
defended the rear, and kept the enemy in check for several miles. The ground was cov¬ 
ered with a slushy snow, which much retarded their progress ; and after a while, many of 
them were so dispirited and hungry—having eaten no breakfast—that they threw down 
their arms and made the best of their way pell-mell among the retreating crowd. About 
this time, M’Dowl saw a female carrying her infant, a year old. She was so tired that she 
was about to fall by the way-side, when he took the child and carried it some distance. 
Afterwards, to save her own life, the woman threw away the child in the snow. The In¬ 
dians took it up, carried it to the Sandusky towns, and raised it.t Soon after this, M’Dowl 
overtook a youth, some eighteen years old, wounded in the leg, hobbling along, and 
dispirited. He gave him a drink of spirits and a little bread, he himself had not had 
time to eat, which refreshed and encouraged him. Soon after, a poney came dashing by. 
This, M’Dowl caught, and mounting the youth upon it, he safely reached the fort. 

At Stillwater creek, twelve miles from the battle-ground, the Indians, who were no 
longer numerous, left them, and returned to share their booty. “ Oh!” said an old squaw, 
who died many years ago, on the St. Mary’s, “ my arm that night was weary scalping 
white man.” 

Some years ago—said the old man to me—and here his cheeks were moistened with 
tears—I was travelling in Kentucky, to visit a sister I had not seen in many years, when I 
arrived at Georgetown, and entered my name on the ledger, with the place of my resi¬ 
dence —“ Recovery, Ohio” After I had been sitting some time at ease, before a comfort¬ 
able fire, a gentleman, who had noticed the entry of my name and residence, opened a 
friendly conversation about the place and country. He soon remarked that he was at the 
defeat of St. Clair, and that if it had not been for the assistance of a young man of But¬ 
ler’s regiment, he would have been there yet. 

After a few more questions and replies, both parties recognized each other. The gentle¬ 
man was the youth who had been shot, on the retreat, and whose life—as previously stated 


* The references A and D were not on the map ; neither was the high ground on the 
east side of the river, which we have placed on it from personal recollection.— H. H. 

t It is stated in some accounts that about fifty, and in others, that near two hundred 
women were killed in the action and flight.— H. H. 



DARKE COUNTY. 


135 


—was saved by the interposition of M’Dowl. At this discovery, their surprise and conse¬ 
quent mutual attachment may be imagined. The gentleman insisted upon taking him to 
his house, and introducing him to his wife and daughters. He had become wealthy by 
merchandizing, and on parting with M’Dowl, gave him a new suit of clothes and other 
presents, which he has carefully preserved to this day. 

M’Clung, in his Sketches of Western Adventure, relates some 
anecdotes, showing the heroism and activity of a young man who 
was in this action. 

The late William Kennan, of Fleming county, at that time a young man of eighteen, 
was attached to the corps of rangers who accompanied the regular force. He had long 
been remarkable for strength and activity. In the course of the march from Fort Wash¬ 
ington, he had repeated opportunities of testing his astonishing powers in that respect, and 
was universally admitted to be the swiftest runner of the light corps. On the evening pre¬ 
ceding the action, his corps had been advanced, as already observed, a few hundred yards 
in front of the first line of infantry, in order to give seasonable notice of the enemy’s ap¬ 
proach. Just as day was dawning, he observed about thirty Indians within one hundred 
yards of the guard fire, advancing cautiously towards the spot where he stood, together 
with about twenty rangers, the rest being considerably in the rear. 

Supposing it to be a mere scouting party, as usual, and not superior in number to the 
rangers, he sprung forward a few paces in order to shelter himself in a spot of peculiarly 
rank grass, and firing with a quick aim upon the foremost Indian, he instantly fell fiat upon 
his face, and proceeded with all possible rapidity to reload his gun, not doubting, for a mo¬ 
ment, but that the rangers would maintain their position, and support him. The Indians, 
however, rushed forward in such overwhelming masses, that the rangers were compelled to 
fly with precipitation, leaving young Kennan in total ignorance of his danger. Fortunately, 
the captain of his company had observed him when he threw himself in the grass, and sud¬ 
denly shouted aloud, “ Run Kennan! or you are a dead man!” He instantly sprung to 
his feet, and beheld Indians within ten feet of him, while his company was already more 
than one hundred yards in front. 

Not a moment was to be lost. He darted off with every muscle, strained to its utmost, 
and was pursued by a dozen of the enemy with loud yells. He at first pressed straight for¬ 
ward to the usual fording place in the creek, which ran between the rangers and the main 
army, but several Indians who had passed him before he arose from the grass, threw them¬ 
selves in the way, and completely cut him off from the rest. By the most powerful exer¬ 
tions, he had thrown the whole body of pursuers behind him, with the exception of one 
young chief, (probably Messhawa,) who displayed a swiftness and perseverance equal to his 
own. In the circuit which Kennan was obliged to take, the race continued for more than 
four hundred yards. The distance between them was about eighteen feet, which Kennan 
could not increase, nor his adversary diminish. Each, for the time, put his whole soul into 
the race. 

Kennan, as far as he was able, kept his eye upon the motions of his pursuer, lest he 
should throw the tomahawk, which he held aloft in a menacing attitude, and at length, 
finding that no other Indian was immediately at hand, he determined to try the mettle of 
his pursuer in a different manner, and felt for his tomahawk in order to turn at bay. It 
had escaped from its sheath, however, while he lay in the grass, and his hair had almost 
lifted the cap from his head, when he saw himself totally disarmed. As he had slackened 
his pace for a moment, the Indian was almost in reach of him, when he recommenced the 
race ; but the idea of being without arms, lent wings to his flight, and, for the first time, he 
saw himself gaining ground. He had watched the motions of his pursuer too closely, how¬ 
ever, to pay proper attention to the nature of the ground before him, and he suddenly found 
himself in front of a large tree which had been blown down, and upon which brush and 
other impediments lay to the height of eight or nine feet. 

The Indian (who heretofore had not uttered the slightest sound) now gave a short quick 
yell, as if secure of his victim. Kennan had not a moment to deliberate. He must clear 
the impediment at a leap, or perish. Putting his whole soul into the effort, he bounded 
into the air with a power which astonished himself, and clearing limbs, brush, and every 
thing else, alighted in perfect safety upon the other side. A loud yell of astonishment 
burst from the band of pursuers, not one of whom had the hardihood to attempt the same 
feat. Kennan, as may be readily imagined, had no leisure to enjoy his triumph, but dashing 
into the bed of the creek (upon the banks of which his feat had been performed) where the 
high banks would shield him from the fire of the enemy, he ran up the stream until a con¬ 
venient place offered for crossing, and rejoined the rangers in the rear of the encampment, 


136 


DARKE COUNTY. 


panting from the fatigue of exertions which have seldom been surpassed. No breathing 
time was allowed him, however. The attack instantly commenced, and as we have al¬ 
ready observed, was maintained for three hours, with unabated fury. 

When the retreat commenced, Kennan was attached to Maj. Clarke’s battalion, and had 
the dangerous service of protecting the rear. This corps quickly lost its commander, and 
was completely disorganized. Kennan was among the hindmost when the flight commen¬ 
ced, but exerting those same powers which had saved him in the morning, he quickly gain¬ 
ed the front, passing several horsemen in the flight. Here he beheld a private in his own 
company, an intimate acquaintance, lying upon the ground, with his thigh broken, and in 
tones of the most piercing distress, implored each horseman who hurried by to take him up 
behind him. As soon as he beheld Kennan coming up on foot, he stretched out his arms 
and called aloud upon him to save him. Notwithstanding the imminent peril of the mo¬ 
ment, his friend could not reject so passionate an appeal, but seizing him in his arms, he 
placed him upon his back, and ran in that manner for several hundred yards. Horseman 
after horseman passed them, all of whom refused to relieve him of his burden. 

At length the enemy was gaining upon him so fast, that Kennan saw their death cer¬ 
tain, unless he relinquished his burden. He accordingly told his friend, that he had used 
every possible exertion to save his life, but in vain ; that he must relax his hold around his 
neck or they would both perish. The unhappy wretch, heedless of every remonstrance, 
still clung convulsively to his back, and impeded his exertions until the foremost of the en¬ 
emy (armed with tomahawks alone) were within twenty yards of them. Kennan then 
drew his knife from its sheath and cut the fingers of his companion, thus compelling him to 
relinquish his hold. The unhappy man rolled upon the ground in utter helplessness, and 
Kennan beheld him tomahawked before he had gone thirty yards. Relieved from his bur¬ 
den, he darted forward with an activity which once more brought him to the van. Here 
again he was compelled to neglect his own safety in order to attend to that of others. 

The late Governor Madison, of Kentucky, who afterwards commanded the corps which 
defended themselves so honorably at Raisin, a man who united the most amiable temper to 
the most unconquerable courage, was at that time a subaltern in St. Clair’s army, and being 
a man of infirm constitution, was totally exhausted by the exertions of the morning, and 
was now sitting down calmly upon a log, awaiting the approach of his enemies. Kennan 
hastily accosted him, and inquired the cause of his delay. Madison, pointing to a wound 
which had bled profusely, replied that he was unable to walk further, and had no horse. 
Kennan instantly ran back to a spot where he had seen an exhausted horse grazing, caught 
him without difficulty, and having assisted Madison to mount, walked by his side until 
they were out of danger. Fortunately, the pursuit soon ceased, as the plunder of the camp 
presented irresistible attractions to the enemy. The friendship thus formed between these 
two young men, endured without interruption through life. Mr. Kennan never entirely 
recovered from the immense exertions which he was compelled to make during this unfor¬ 
tunate expedition. He settled in Fleming county, and continued for many years a leading 
member of the Baptist church. He died in 1827. 

The number of Indians engaged in this action can never be ascer¬ 
tained with any degree of certainty. They have been variously es¬ 
timated from 1000 to 3000. 

Col. John Johnston, long an Indian agent in this region, and whose opportunities for 
forming a correct opinion on this subject are worthy of consideration, in a communica¬ 
tion to us, says: “ The number of Indians at the defeat of St. Clair, must have been 
large. At that time game was plenty, and any number could be conveniently subsisted. 
Wells, one of our interpreters was there, with, and fought for the enemy. To use his own 
language, he tomahawked and scalped the wounded, dying and dead, until he was unable 
to raise his arm. The principal tribes in the battle were the Delawares, Shawanoese, 
Wyandots, Miamies and Ottawas, with some Chippewas and Putawatimes. The precise 
number of the whole I had no accurate means of knowing ; it could not be less than 2000.” 

The following song is not the best of poetry, but it has been fre¬ 
quently sung with sad emotion, and is worthy of preservation as a 
relic of olden time. 

SAINCLAIRE’S DEFEAT. 

’Twas November the fourth, in the year of ninety-one, 

We had a sore engagement near to Fort Jefferson ; 

Sinclaire was our commander, which may remembered be, 

For there we left nine hundred men in t’ West’n Ter’tory. 


DARKE COUNTY. 


137 


At Bunker’s Hill and Quebeck, where many a hero fell, 

Likewise at Long Island, (it is I the truth can tell,) 

But such a dreadful carnage may I never see again 
As hap’ned near St. Mary’s, upon the river plain. 

Our army was attacked just as the day did dawn, 

And soon were overpowered and driven from the lawn. 

They killed Major Ouldham, Levin and Briggs likewise. 

And horrid yells of sav’ges resounded through the skies. 

Major Butler was wounded the very second fire ; 

His manly bosom swell’d with rage when forc’d to retire; 

And as he lay in anguish, nor scarcely could he see, 

Exclaim’d, “ Ye hounds of hell, O ! revenged I will be.” 

We had not been long broken when General Butler found 
Himself so badly wounded, was forced to quit the ground. 

“ My God !” says he, “ what shall we do ; we’er wounded every man ; 

Go charge them, valiant heroes, and beat them if you can.” 

He leaned his back against a tree, and there resigned his breath, 

And like a valiant soldier sunk in the arms of death; 

When blessed angels did await, his spirit to convey ; 

And unto the celestial fields he quickly bent his way. 

We charg’d again with courage firm, but soon again gave ground, 

The war-whoop then redoubled, as did the foes around. 

They killed Major Ferguson, which caused his men to cry, 

“ Our only safety is in flight; or fighting here to die.” 

“ Stand to your guns,” says valiant Ford, “ let’s die upon them here 
Before we let the sav’ges know we ever harbored fear.” 

Our cannon-balls exhausted, and artill’ry-men all slain, 

Obliged were our musketmen the en’my to sustain. 

Yet three hours more we fought them, and then were forc’d to yield. 

When three hundred bloody warriors lay stretch’d upon the field. 

Says Colonel Gibson to his men, “ My boys be not dismay’d; 

I’m sure that true Virginians were never yet afraid. 

Ten thousand deaths I’d rather die, than they should gain the field 
With that he got a fatal shot, which caused him to yield. 

Says Major Clark, " My heroes, I can here no longer stand, 

We’ll strive to form in order, and retreat the best we can.” 

The word, Retreat, being past around, there was a dismal cry, 

Then helter skelter through the woods, like wolves and sheep they fly. 

This well-appointed army, who but a day before. 

Defied and braved all danger, had like a cloud pass’d o’er. 

Alas! the dying and wounded, how dreadful was the thought. 

To the tomahawk and scalping-knife, in mis’ry are brought. 

Some had a thigh and some an arm broke on the field that day. 

Who writhed in torments at the stake, to close the dire affray. 

To mention our brave officers, is what I wish to do; 

No sons of Mars e’er fought more brave, or with more courage true. 

To Captain Bradford I belonged, in his artillery, 

He fell that day amongst the slain, a valiant man was he. 

Sometime after the defeat of St. Clair, Wilkinson, who had suc¬ 
ceeded him in the command of Fort Washington, ordered an expe¬ 
dition to visit the battle-ground. Capt. Buntin, who was with the 
party, afterwards addressed a letter to St. Clair, from which we 
make an extract. 


18 


138 


DARKE COUNTY. 


In my opinion, those unfortunate men who fell into the enemy’s hands, with life, were 
used with the greatest torture, having their limbs torn off; and the women have been 
treated with the most indecent cruelty, having stakes as thick as a person’s arm drove 
through their bodies. The first, I observed when burying the dead ; and the latter was 
discovered by Col. Sargent and Dr. Brown. We found three whole carriages ; the other 
five were so much damaged that they were rendered useless. By the general’s orders, pits 
were dug in different places, and all the dead bodies that were exposed to view, or could be 
conveniently found (the snow being very deep) were buried. During this time, there was 
sundry parties detached, some for our safety, and others in examining the course of the 
creek ; and some distance in advance of the ground occupied by the militia, they found a 
large camp, not less than three quarters of a mile long, which was supposed to be that of 
the Indians the night before the action. We remained on the field that night, and next 
morning fixed geared horses to the carriages, and moved for Fort Jefferson. . . . As 

there is little reason to believe that the enemy have carried off the cannon, it is the re¬ 
ceived opinion that they were either buried or thrown into the creek, and I think the latter 
the most probable ; but as it was frozen over with thick ice, and that covered with a deep 
snow, it was impossible to make a search with any prospect of success. In a former part 
of this letter I have mentioned the camp occupied by the enemy the night before the ac¬ 
tion : had Col. Oldham been able to have complied with your orders on that evening, 
things at this day might have worn a different aspect. 

Mr. M’Dowl, previously mentioned, was one of those who visited 
the battle-ground. 

He states that although the bodies were much abused and stripped of all of value, that they 
recognized and interred them in four large graves. Gen. Butler was found in the shattered 
remains of his tent. After he was wounded, he was borne to the tent, and while two sur¬ 
geons were dressing his wounds, a ball struck one of them in the hip. At this instant, an 
Indian, who was determined to have the scalp of Butler, rushed in, and while attempting 
to scalp him, was shot by the dying surgeon. 

In December, 1793, Gen. Wayne having arrived with his army 
at Greenville, sent forward a detachment to the spot of St. Clair’s 
defeat. 

They arrived on the ground, on Christmas day, and pitched their tents on the battle¬ 
ground. When the men went to lie down in their tents at night, they had to scrape the 
bones together and carry them out to make their beds. The next day holes were dug, 
and the bones remaining above ground were buried ; six hundred skulls being found among 
them. The flesh was entirely off the bones, and in many cases, the sinews yet held them 
together. After this melancholy duty was performed, a fortification was built, and named 
Fort Recovery, in commemoration of its being recovered from the Indians, who had 
possession of the ground in 1791. On the completion of the fort, one company of artillery 
and one of riflemen were left, while the rest returned to Greenville. 

The site of St. Clair’s battle became the scene of a sanguinary 
affair in the summer of 1794, while Wayne’s army was encamped 
at Greenville, of which Burnet’s Notes give the best description we 
have seen. 

On the 30th of June, a very severe and bloody battle was fought under the walls of Fort 
Recovery, between a detachment of American troops, consisting of ninety riflemen and 
fifty dragoons, commanded by Maj. McMahon, and a very numerous body of Indians and 
British, who at the same instant, rushed on the detachment, and assailed the fort on every 
side, with great fury. They were repulsed, with a heavy loss, but again rallied and re¬ 
newed the attack, keeping up a heavy and constant fire during the whole day, which was 
returned with spirit and effect, by the garrison. 

The succeeding night was foggy and dark, and gave the Indians an opportunity of car¬ 
rying off their dead, by torch-light, which occasionally drew a fire from the garrison. 
They, however, succeeded so well, that there were but eight or ten bodies left on the 
ground, which were too near the garrison to be approached. On the next morning, McMa¬ 
hon’s detachment having entered the fort, the enemy renewed the attack, and continued it 
with great desperation during the day, but were ultimately compelled to retreat from the 
same field, on which they had been proudly victorious on the 4th of November, 1791 . 


DARKE COUNTY. 


139 


The expectation of the assailants must have been to surprise the post, and carry it by 
storm, for they could not possibly have received intelligence of the movement of the escort, 
under Maj. McMahon, which only marched from Greenville, on the morning preceding, 
and on the same evening, deposited in Fort Recovery, the supplies it had convcTyed. That 
occurrence could not, therefore, have led to the movement of the savages. 

Judging from the extent of their encampment, and their line of march, in seventeen col- 
ums, forming a wide and extended front, and from other circumstances, it was believed 
their numbers could not have been less than from fifteen hundred to two thousand warriors. 
It was also believed, that they were in want of provisions, as they had killed and eaten a 
number of pack-horses in their encampment, the evening after the assault, and also, at 
their encampment on their return, seven miles from Recovery, where they remained two 
nights, having been much encumbered with their dead and wounded. 

From the official return of Maj. Mills, adjutant general of the army, it appears that 
twenty two officers and non-commissioned officers were killed, and thirty wounded. Among 
the former, were Maj. McMahon, Capt. Hartshorn, and Lieut. Craig; and among the 
wounded, Capt. Taylor of the dragoons, and Lieut. Darke of the legion. Capt. Gibson, 
who commanded the fort, behaved with great gallantry, and received the thanks of the 
commander-in-chief, as did every officer and soldier of the garrison, and the escort, who 
were engaged in that most gallant and successful defence. 

Immediately after the enemy had retreated, it was ascertained, that their loss had been 
very heavy, but the full extent of it was not known till it was disclosed at the treaty of 
Greenville. References were made to that battle, by several of the chiefs in council, from 
which it was manifest, that they had not, even then, ceased to mourn the distressing losses 
sustained on that occasion. Having made the attack with a determination to carry the 
fort, or perish in the attempt, they exposed their persons in an unusual degree, and of 
course, a large number of the bravest of their chiefs and warriors, perished before they 
abandoned the enterprise. 

From the facts afterwards communicated to the general, it was satisfactorily ascertained 
that there were a considerable number of British soldiers and Detroit militia engaged with 
the savages, on that occasion. A few days previous to that affair, the general had sent out 
three small parties of Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians, to take prisoners, for the purpose 
of obtaining information. One of those parties returned to Greenville on the 28th, and re¬ 
ported that they had fallen in with a large body of Indians, at Girty’s town, (crossing of 
the St. Mary’s,) on the evening of the 27th of June, apparently bending their course to¬ 
wards Chillicothe, on the Miami; and that there were a great many white men with them. 
The other two parties followed the trail of the hostile Indians, and were in sight when the 
assault on the post commenced. They affirm, one and all, that there were a large number 
of armed white men, with painted faces, whom they frequently heard conversing in Eng¬ 
lish, and encouraging the Indians to persevere ; and that there were also three British offi¬ 
cers, dressed in scarlet, who appeared to be men of distinction, from the great attention 
and respect which was paid to them. These persons kept at a distance, in the rear of the 
assailants. Another strong corroborating proof that there were British soldiers and militia 
in the assault, is, that a number of ounce-balls and buck-shot were found lodged in the 
block-houses and stockades of the fort; and that others were picked up on the ground, 
fired at such a distance as not to have momentum sufficient to enter the logs. 

It was supposed that the British engaged in the attack, expected to find the artillery that 
was lost on the fatal 4th of November, which had been hid in the ground and covered with 
logs, by the Indians, in the vicinity of the battle-field. This inference was supported by 
the fact, that during the conflict, they were seen turning over logs, and examining differ¬ 
ent places, in the neighborhood, as if searching for something. There were many reasons 
for believing, that they depended on that artillery, to aid in the reduction of the fort; but 
fortunately, most of it had been previously found by its legitimate owners, and was then 
employed in its defence. 

James Neill, a pack-horse-man in the American service, who was taken prisoner by 
the Indians, during the attack, and tied to a stump, about half a mile from the fort, after 
his return, stated to the general, that the enemy lost a great number in killed and wounded ; 
that while he was at the stump, he saw about twenty of their dead, and a great many 
wounded, carried off. He understood there were fifteen hundred Indians and white men 
in the attack; and on their return to the Miami, the Indians stated, that no men ever 
fought better than they did at Recovery ; and that their party lost twice as many men in 
that attack, as they did at St. Clair’s defeat. 

Jonathan Alder, who was then living with the Indians, gives in 
his mss. auto-biography, an account of the attack on the fort. He 


140 


DARKE COUNTY. 


states that Simon Girty was in the action, and that one of the Amer¬ 
ican officers was killed by Thomas M’Kee, a son of the British 
agent, Col. Alex. M’Kee. We have room but for a single extract, 
showing the risk the Indians encountered, to bring off their wounded. 

In the morning, when we arose, an old Indian addressed us, saying, “ We last night 
went out to take the fort by surprise, and lost several of our men, killed and wounded. 
There is one wounded man lying near the fort, who must be brought away, for it would be 
an eternal shame and scandal to the tribe to allow him to fall into the hands of the whites to 
be massacred. I wish to know who will volunteer to go and bring him away.” Big Turtle, 
who knew where he lay, answered, that he would go ; but as no one else volunteered, the 
old Indian pointed out several of us successively, myself among the number, saying that 
we must accompany Big Turtle. Upon this, we rose up without a word, and started. As 
soon as we came into the edge of the cleared ground, those in the fort began shooting at 
us. We then ran crooked, from one tree to another, the bullets in the meanwhile flying 
about us like hail. At length, while standing behind a big tree, Big Turtle ordered us not 
to stop any more, but run in a straight line, as we were only giving them time to load,— 
that those foremost in going should have the liberty of first returning. He then pointed 
out the wounded man, and we started in a straight line, through a shower of bullets. 
When we reached him, we were within sixty yards of the fort. We all seized him and 
retreated for our lives, first dodging from one side and then to the other, until out of danger. 
None of us were wounded but Big Turtle ; a ball grazed his thigh, and a number of bullets 
passed through his hunting shirt, that hung loose. When we picked up the wounded 
man, his shirt flew up, and I saw that he was shot in the belly. It was green all around 
the bullet holes, and I concluded that we were risking our lives for a dead man. 

A small village, now containing a few houses only, was laid off 
on the site of St. Clair’s defeat, in 1836, by Larkin & M’Daniels: 
it is 23 miles north of Greenville. Many relics of the battle have 
been discovered; muskets, swords, tomahawks, scalping knives, 
cannon balls, grape and musket shot, &c. Among the bones found, 
is that of a skull, now in possession of Mr. Wm. M’Daniels, showing 
the marks of a bullet, a tomahawk and a scalping knife. St. Clair 
lost several cannon, all of which but one were subsequently re¬ 
covered by Wayne. This was long known to be missing, and about 
a dozen years since was discovered, buried in the mud near the 
mouth of the creek : it is now in possession of an artillery company 
in Cincinnati. When the low ground in the valley of the river was 
cleared, several years since, a large quantity of bullets and grape 
shot were found in the bodies of trees, from twenty to thirty feet above 
the ground, from which it seems, that the troops and artillery, hav¬ 
ing been stationed on high ground, fired over the enemy. On burn¬ 
ing the trees, the lead melting run down their trunks, discolored 
them so much, as to be perceived at a considerable distance. 

The remains of Maj. McMahon and his companions, who fell at 
the time of the attack on the fort, were buried within its walls. 
Some years since, their bones were disinterred and reburied with 
the honors of war, in one coffin, in the village grave-yard. McMa¬ 
hon was known from the size of his bones, having been about 6 feet 
6 inches in height: a bullet hole was in his skull, the ball having 
entered his temple and come out at the back of his head. He was 
originally from near the Mingo bottom, just below Steubenville. 
He was a famous Indian fighter and captain, and classed by the bor¬ 
derers on the Upper Ohio with Brady and the Wetzels. 


DARKE COUNTY. 


141 


Fort Jefferson, 5 miles south of Greenville, was built by St. Clair. 
In the summer of 1792, a large body of Indians surrounded this fort. 

Before they were discovered, a party of them secreted themselves in some underbrush 
and behind some bogs, near the fort. Knowing that Capt. Shaylor, the commandant, was 
passionately fond of hunting, they imitated the noise of turkeys. The captain, not dream¬ 
ing of a decoy, hastened out with his son, fully expecting to return loaded with game. As 
they approached near the place, the savages rose, fired, arid his son, a promising lad, fell. 
The captain turning, fled to the garrison. The Indians pursued closely, calculating either 
to take him prisoner or enter the sally gate with him, in case it were opened for his ad¬ 
mission. They were, however, disappointed, though at his heels; he entered and the gate 
was closed, the instant he reached it. In his retreat, he was badly wounded by an arrow 
in his back. 



View in Greenville. 


Greenville, the county seat, is in the township of Greenville, 92 
miles west of Columbus, and 10 from the Indiana line. It was laid 
off, Aug. 10th, 1808, by Robert Gray and John Devor, and con¬ 
tains 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, and 1 Christian church, 16 
mercantile stores, 1 flouring mill, 1 newspaper printing office, and 
about 800 inhabitants. 

Greenville is a point of much historical note. In December, ’93, 
Wayne built a fort at this place, which he called Fort Greenville. 
He remained until the 28th of July, ’94, when he left for the Maumee 
rapids, where he defeated the Indians on the 20th of the month suc¬ 
ceeding. His army returned to Greenville on the 2d of November, 
after an absence of three months and six days. Fort Greenville 
was an extensive work, and covered the greater part of the site of 
the town. The annexed plan is from the survey of Mr. James 
M’Bride, of Hamilton. The blocks represent the squares of the 
town, within the lines of the fort. Traces of the embankment are 
plainly discernable, and various localities within the fort are pointed 
out by the citizens of the town. The quarters of Wayne, were on 
the site of the residence of Stephen Perrine, on Main street. Henry 
House, now of this county, who was in Wayne’s campaign, says, 
that the soldiers built log huts, arranged in rows, each regiment oc¬ 
cupying one row, and each hut—of which there were many hun¬ 
dred—occupied by six soldiers. He also affirms that Wayne drilled 
his men to load while running; and every night when on the march, 









142 


DARKE COUNTY. 


had good breast-works erected, at which the men had been so well 
practiced, as to be able to accomplish in a few minutes. 



On the 3d of August, 1795, Wayne concluded a treaty of peace 
with the Indians, at Greenville. The number of Indians present 
was 1,130, viz: 180 Wyandots, 381 Delawares, 143 Shawnees, 45 
Ottawas, 46 Chippewas, 240 Pottawatamies, 73 Miamies and Eel 
river, 12 Weas and Piankeshaws, and 10 Kickapoos and Ivaskaskias. 
The principal chiefs were Tarhe, Buckongehelas, Black Hoof, Blue 
Jacket, and Little Turtle. Most of the chiefs had been tampered 
with by M’Kee and other British agents; but their people, having 
been reduced to great extremities by the generalship of Wayne, had, 
notwithstanding, determined to make a permanent peace with the 
“ Thirteen Fires,” as they called the federal states. The basis of the 
treaty of Greenville was, that hostilities were to cease, and all pris¬ 
oners restored. Article 3d, defined the Indian boundary as follows: 

The general boundary line between the lands of the United States, and the lands of the 
said Indian tribes, shall begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, and run thence up the same 
to the Portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum, thence down 
that branch to the crossing place above Fort Laurens, thence westerly, to a fork of that 
branch of the Great Miami river, running into the Ohio, at or near which fork stood Lo- 
romie’s store, and where commenced the portage between the Miami of the Ohio, and St. 
Mary’s river, which is a branch of the Miami, which runs into Lake Erie: thence, a west¬ 
erly course to Fort Recovery, which stands on the branch of the Wabash; thence, south¬ 
erly in a direct line to the Ohio, so as to intersect that river opposite the mouth of Ken- 
tucke or Cuttawa river. 

The following are the reservations within the limits of Ohio, granted to the Indians by 
this treaty. 

1st. One piece of land 6 miles square, at or near Loramie’s store, before mentioned. 2d. 
One piece 2 miles square, at the head of the navigable water or landing on the St. Mary’s 
river, near Girty’s town. 3d. One piece, six miles square, at the head of the navigable 
water of the Auglaise river. 4th. One piece, six miles square, at the confluence of the 
Auglaise and Miami rivers, where Fort Defiance now stands. 8th. One piece, twelve 
miles square, at the British fort on the Miami of the lake, at the foot of the rapids. 9th. 
One piece, six miles square, at the mouth of the said river where it empties into the lake. 
10th. One piece, six miles square, upon Sandusky lake, where a fort formerly stood. 11th. 
One piece, two miles square, at the lower rapids of the Sandusky river. 








DEFIANCE COUNTY. 


143 


These with the other tracts were given, “ for the same considerations, and as an evidence 
of the returning friendship of the said Indian tribes, of their confidence in the United States, 
and desire to provide for their accommodation, and for that convenient intercourse which 
will be beneficial to both parties.” 

A second treaty was concluded at Greenville, July 22d, 1814, 
with the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Senecas and Miamies. 

The commissioners on the part of the United States, were Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison 
and Gov. Lewis Cass. By it, these tribes engaged to aid the United States in the war with 
Great Britain and her savage allies. The prominent chiefs were Tarhe, Capt. Pipe and 
Black Hoof. Both of the treaties were held on the same spot, within the present garden 
of Abraham Scribner, in Greenville. On the 22d of July, 1840, just 26 years after the 
last treaty, there was a great celebration at this place, called “ the Greenville Treaty Cele¬ 
bration,” at which the many thousands present were addressed at length by Gen. Harrison. 

From the year 1805 to 1808, the celebrated Tecumseh, with his brother the prophet, re¬ 
sided at Greenville. It was the point where they formed their plans of hostility to the 
whites. During their residence at this place, they were visited by many Indians, who were 
wrought into the highest excitement by the eloquence of Tecumseh and the cunning of the 
prophet. 

On the plan of Fort Greenville, is laid down “ Tecumseh Point ,” at the junction of the 
rivulet with Greenville creek, about a quarter of a mile from the court house. At this 
place are some Indian graves,—here Tecumseh had a cabin, and formerly near it was a 
spring, called “ Tecumseh’s Spring.” In 1832, the remnant of the Shawnees, then moving 
to their new homes in the far west, from their reservation on the Auglaize, took this place 
on their route, instead of Cincinnati, as desired by the United States agents. They en¬ 
camped on Tecumseh’s point, to the number of several hundred, and remained a day or 
two, to take a final farewell of a place so dear to their memories. 

New Madison, 10 miles southwest of Greenville, near the site of 
old Fort Black, is a new and thriving village, containing about 50 
houses. Fort Jefferson, Fort Recovery, New Castine, Ithaca, New 
Harrison, Gettysburg, Versailles, Beamsville and Palestine are small 
towns. 


DEFIANCE. 

Defiance was erected March 4th, 1845, from Williams, Henry and 
Paulding, and named from Fort Defiance. It is watered by the 
Auglaize, the Tiffin and the Maumee: this last named stream was 
anciently called “ Miami of the Lake” and sometimes “ Omee” The 
Maumee is navigable by steamers, in high water, to Fort Wayne, and 
in ordinary stages to that place for keel boats carrying 60 tons. The 
Auglaize is navigable for keel boats to Wapakoneta, and the Tiffin, 
which is a narrow, deep stream, is navigable, for pirogues of a 
few tons, about 50 miles. Much grain comes down those various 
streams. Prior to the building of the Wabash canal, Northern Indi¬ 
ana received a large part of its supplies by the Maumee. Much of 
this county is covered by the Black Swamp, and the surface, where 
cleared and drained, is very fertile. The county is divided into the 
following townships. 

Adams, Delaware, Highland, Tiffin, 

Crane, Farmer, Hicksford, Washington. 

Defiance, Hicksville, Richland, 



144 


DEFIANCE COUNTY. 


Defiance having been formed since the last census, its population 
is unknown. 

The annexed plan and description 
of Fort Defiance, is found in the mem¬ 
oranda of Benj. Van Cleve, commu¬ 
nicated by his son, John W. Van 
Cleve, of Dayton, to the American 
Pioneer. 

At each angle of the fort was a block-house. 
The one next the Maumee is marked A, hav¬ 
ing port-holes B, on the three exterior sides, and 
door D and chimney C on the side facing to the 
interior. There was a line of pickets on each 
side of the fort, connecting the block-houses by 
their nearest angles. Outside of the pickets and 
around the block-houses was a glacis, a wall of 
earth eight feet thick, sloping upwards and out¬ 
wards from the feet of the pickets, supported by 
a log wall on the side of the ditch and by facines, 
a wall of faggots, on the side next the Auglaize. 
The ditch, fifteen feet wide and eight feet deep, 
surrounded the whole work except on the side 
toward the Auglaize; and diagonal pickets, 
eleven feet long and one foot apart, were secu¬ 
red to the log wall and projected over the ditch. 
E and E were gateways. F was a bank of 
earth, four feet wide, left for a passage across 
the ditch. G was a falling gate or drawbridge, which was raised and lowered by pullies, 
across the ditch, covering it or leaving it uncovered at pleasure. The officers’ quarters 
were at H, and the storehouses at I. At K, two lines of pickets converged towards L, 
which was a ditch eight feet deep, by which water was procured from the river without ex¬ 
posing the carrier to the enemy. M was a small sand-bar at the point. 

Defiance, the county seat, is on the south bank of the Maumee, at 
its junction with the Auglaize, on the line of the canal, 152 miles nw. 
of Columbus, 58 from Toledo and 50 from Fort Wayne. It was laid 
out in 1822, by Benj. Level and Horatio G. Philips, and contains 1 
Methodist and 1 Catholic church, 5 mercantile stores and a popula¬ 
tion of about 700. It is destined, from its natural position, to be, 
when the country is fully settled, a large and flourishing place; it 
already has an extensive trade with a large district of country. 

Defiance is on the site of a large Indian settlement, which extend¬ 
ed for miles up and down the river. Gen. Wayne, on his advance 
march, arrived at this place, Aug. 8th, 1794. His army found it 
surrounded by a highly cultivated country, there being vegetables of 
every kind in abundance, and not less than one thousand acres of 
corn around the Indian town, beside immense apple and peach or¬ 
chards. It had been a great trading point between the Canadian 
French and the Indians. On the 9th of August, Wayne commenced 
the erection of a fort, which he called Fort Defiance. The army 
remained here several days and then moved northward, and on the 
20th, routed the Indians at the Maumee rapids. On their return, 
they completed the fortress. Fort Defiance was built at the con¬ 
fluence of the Auglaize and Maumee, traces of which work are now 
plainly discernable. The situation is beautiful and commanding : it 




DELAWARE COUNTY, 


145 


is indicated in the view of Defiance by the flag shown on the left, 
Gen. Winchester, previous to his defeat at the river Raisin, in the war 



Defiance from the North bank of the Maumee. 

of 1812, encamped in a picketed fort, which he built on the Auglaize, 
about 100 yards south of the other, and named Fort Winchester. 

Brunersburg, Independence, Clarksville, Evansport, Delaware and 
Hicksville, are small places. ( See Addenda.) 


DELAWARE. 


Delaware was formed from Franklin county, Feb. 10th, 1808. 
The surface is generally level and the soil clay, except the river 
bottoms. About one third of the surface is adapted to meadow and 
pasture and the remainder to the plough. The principal products 
are wheat, corn, oats, pork and wool. The following is a list of its 
21 townships, with their population in 1840. 

Bennington, 1051 Harlem, 963 Peru, 737 

Berkshire, 1407 Harmony, 676 Porter, 678 

Berlin, 827 Kingston, 657 Radnor, 1174 

Brown, 908 Liberty, 811 Scioto, 877 

Concord, 1185 Lincoln, 549 Thompson, 660 

Delaware, 1019 Oxford, 774 Trenton, 1188 

Genoa, 1193 Orange, 789 Troy, 838 

The population of Delaware county, in 1820, was 7,639 ; in 1830, 
11,522, and in 1840, 22,060 or 36 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The name of this county originated from the Delaware tribe, 
some of whom once dwelt within its limits, and had extensive corn¬ 
fields adjacent to its seat of justice. John Johnson says: 

« The true name of this once powerful tribe is Wa,be,nugh,ka, 
19 


















146 


DELAWARE COUNTY. 


that is, ‘the people from the east,’ or ‘the sun rising.’ The tradition 
among themselves is, that they originally, at some very remote pe¬ 
riod, emigrated from the west, crossed the Mississippi, ascending the 
Ohio, fighting their way, until they reached the Delaware river, [so 
named from Lord Delaware,] near where Philadelphia now stands, 
in which region of county they became fixed. 

“ About this time, they were so numerous that no enumeration 
could be made of the nation. They welcomed to the shores of the 
new world that great law-giver, Wm. Penn, and his peaceful follow¬ 
ers, and ever since this people have entertained a kind and grateful 
recollection of them ; and to this day, speaking of good men, they 
would say, ‘ wa.,she,a, E,le,ne y —such a man is a Quaker, i. e. all good 
men are Quakers. In 1823,1 removed to the west of the Mississippi 
persons of this tribe, who were bom and raised within 30 miles of 
Philadelphia. These were the most squalid, wretched and degraded 
of their race, and often furnished chiefs with a subject of reproach 
against the whites, pointing to these of their people and saying to us, 
‘ see how you have spoiled them’—meaning, they had acquired all 
the bad habits of the white people, and were ignorant of hunting and 
incapable of making a livelihood as other Indians. 

“ In 1819, there were belonging to my agency in Ohio, 80 Dela¬ 
wares, who were stationed near Upper Sandusky, and in Indiana, 
2,300 of the same tribe. 

“ Bockinghelas was the principal chief of the Delawares for many 
years after my going into the Indian country : he was a distinguished 
warrior in his day, and an old man when I knew him. Killbuck, 
another Delaware chief, had received a liberal education at Prince¬ 
ton College, and retained until his death the great outlines of the 
morality of the Gospel.” 

Delaware, the county seat, is pleasantly situated, on rolling ground, 
upon the western bank of the Olentangy river, 24 miles n. from 
Columbus. It was laid out in the spring of 1808, by Moses Byxbe, 
Esq. The engraving shows the public buildings on one of the prin¬ 
cipal streets of this neat and thriving town. The churches shown 
are respectively, commencing on the right, the 1st Presbyterian, the 
Episcopal and the 2d Presbyterian: between the two first, the 
Methodist church, a substantial stone structure, partially appears in 
the distance. The large building seen beyond the 2d Presbyterian 
church, is the “ Hinton House,” one of the largest and best construct¬ 
ed hotels in Ohio. 

The Delaware Springs are situated in the southern part of the 
village, and large numbers of persons come here for the benefit of 
its waters. “Tradition states that the Indians resorted to these 
springs, to use the waters and kill the deer and buffalo, which came 
here in great numbers. Before the grounds were enclosed, in 
the early settlement of the country, the domestic animals for miles 
around made this a favorite resort in the heats of summer, and ap¬ 
peared satisfied with no other water. 

“The principal spring is a fine fountain of water, issuing forth into 


DELAWARE COUNTY. 


147 


an artificial stone basin at the rate of 12 or 15 gallons per minute. 
The spring is of that class termed white sulphur, or cold hydro- 
sulphurous water. The water is said to be similar to that of the 



View in Winter Street, Delaware. 


celebrated white sulphur springs of Virginia, and equal in their min¬ 
eral and medicinal qualities. The water is cooler, being as low as 
53°, contains more gas and is therefore lighter and more pleasant 
than that of the Virginia water. Many cures have been effected of 
persons afflicted with scrofulous diseases, dyspepsia, bilious derange¬ 
ments of the liver and stomach, want of appetite and digestion, cases 
of erysipelas, when all the usual remedies had failed, and injuries 
inflicted by the excessive use of calomel. 

Prof. H. Michell, in giving his analysis of the waters, says; “ Of 
gaseous products, I find that one wine pint of the water, taken im¬ 
mediately from the spring, contains of sulphurated hydrogen gas, 12 
cubic inches ; of carbonic acid gas, 3 do. One hundred grains of the 
deposit, which resulted from evaporating several gallons of the water, 
yielded, on analysis, of muriate of soda, 48 grains; do. of lime, 20 
do.; sulphate of magnesia, 16 do.; do. of lime, 8 do.; carbonate of 
soda, 5 do.; total of the above, 97 grains. The above results show 
that these waters approach as nearly to the well-known waters of 
Aix la Chappelle and Harrowgate as those do respectively to each 

other.They are decidedly deobstruent, and calculated to remove 

glandular enlargements, as well of the liver as of the other viscera. 
In cases of slow fever, disturbed state of the functions of digestion, or 
more confirmed dyspepsia—morbid secretions from the kidneys or 
bladder, gravel and chronic eruptions on the skin, I can strongly re¬ 
commend their use ; and, though last, not least, their power of subdu¬ 
ing general constitutional irritation, and quieting and restoring tone 
to the system, when it has been necessary to have recourse to the 






























148 


DELAWARE COUNTY. 


frequent and long-continued action of calomel or other mercurial 
preparations, is, I am persuaded, of the greatest efficacy.” 



The Ohio Wesleyan University has been recently established at 
Delaware, with fine prospects of success—the Rev. Edward Thom¬ 
son, D. D., President. The college edifice stands on a pleasant 
elevation, in the southern part of the village, and embraces within its 
grounds ten acres of land, including the sulphur spring, the position 
of which is indicated in the engraving by the figures seen in the dis¬ 
tance among the trees on the left. The population of Delaware, in 
1840, was 898—since which, it has probably doubled its number of 
inhabitants. 



The White Sulphur Fountain. 


The White Sulphur Fountain is beautifully situated on the rapids 
































ERIE COUNTY. 


149 


of the Scioto, 18 miles above Columbus and 10 sw. of Delaware, and 
is surrounded for miles by a fine undulating and healthy country. 

The buildings are neat, entirely new and, for the first time, opened this season (1847) to 
visitors. The fountain is a most remarkable curiosity, and rises from the bed of the Scioto 
through solid rock. It was first discovered in 1820, while boring for salt water, a hole of 
about 2£ inches in diameter. The operators had pierced through about 90 feet of solid 
rock, when the auger suddenly fell two feet and up gushed with great force a stream of 
strong white sulphur water, which has continued to rise with its original force and violence 
to the present time. Experiments have shown some curious results; among which was 
that of placing an air-tight tube in an upright position, one end being inserted into the 
hole, when the water shot out of its top with as much force as when issuing from the rock 
beneath. The water, which is pure, is supposed to be driven by its own gas : its tempera¬ 
ture is 50°, and it deposits on the ground around a very heavy white deposit. 

On the grounds of the establishment is a beautiful chalybeate spring, having a tempe¬ 
rature of 47°. “ This place has every natural advantage that can be desired for making it 

one of the greatest places of resort for health and recreation, west of the mountains. From 
present indications, it is evidently destined to become so, as soon as preparations can be 
made to accommodate the public to a sufficient extent, which will soon be done, as im¬ 
provements here are making rapid progress.” 

There are several small towns in the county: the most important 
of these are Sunbury and Berkshire—the first of which is 12 miles 
e. of Delaware, and is a neat village, containing 4 stores, 3 churches 
and about 300 inhabitants. (See Addenda.) 


ERIE. 

Erie was formed in 1838, from Huron and Sandusky counties. 
The surface is level, with some prairie land. Inexhaustible quarries 
of limestone and freestone abound. The freestone from Margaretta 
township resembles the famous Portland stone: when taken from 
the quarry it is soft and is frequently sawed with the hand-saw, and 
hardens on exposure to the atmosphere. The limestone is of the 
species called marine-shell marble. It is of the best quality, full of 
organic remains, and susceptible of an exquisite polish. Quantities 
of bog iron ore are found. The soil is generally alluvial and very 
fertile. The principal crops are wheat, corn, oats and potatoes. 
The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their popula¬ 
tion. 


Berlin, 

1628 

Margaretta, 

1104 

Perkins, 

839 

Florence, 

1655 

Milan, 

1531 

Portland, 

1434 

Groton, 

Huron, 

854 

1488 

Oxford, 

736 

Vermillion, 

1334 


The population of Erie in 1840, was 12,457, or about 48 inhabi¬ 
tants to a square mile. 

The name of this county was originally applied to the Erie tribe 
of Indians. This nation is said to have had their residence at the 
east end of the lake, near where Buffalo now stands. They are 
represented to have been the most powerful and warlike of all the 



150 


ERIE COUNTY. 


Indian tribes, and to have been extirpated by the Five Nations or 
Iroquois, two or three centuries since.* * * § 

Father Lewis Hennepin, in his work published about 1684, in speaking of certain Catho¬ 
lic priests, thus alludes to the Eries: “ These good fathers were great friends of the Hurons, 
who told them that the Iroquois went to war beyond Virginia, or New Sweden, near a lake 
which they called ‘ Erige’ or ‘ Erie,' which signifies, ‘ the cat,’ or * nation of the cat;’ and 
because these savages brought captives from the nation of the cat in returning to their 
cantons along this lake, the Hurons named it, in their language, * Erige,’ or ‘ Ericke,’ ‘ the 
lake of the cat,’ and which our Canadians, in softening the word, have called ‘ Lake Erie.’ ” 
Charlevoix, writing in 1721, says respecting Lake Erie : “ The name it bears is that of 

an Indian nation of the Huron [Wyandot] language, which was formerly seated on its 
banks, and who have been entirely destroyed by the Iroquois. Erie, in that language, sig¬ 
nifies cat, and in some accounts, this nation is called the cat nation. This name probably 
comes from the large number of that animal formerly found in this country.” 

The French established a small 
trading post at the mouth of Huron 
river, and another on the shore of 
the bay on or near the site of San¬ 
dusky city, which were abandoned 
before the war of the revolution. 
The small map annexed is copied 
from part of Evans’s map of the Mid¬ 
dle British Colonies, published in 
1755. The reader will perceive 
upon the east bank of Sandusky 
river, near the bay, a French fort 
there described as “ Fort Junandat , 
built in 1754.” The words Wan- 
dots are doubtlesss meant for Wyan¬ 
dot towns. 

In 1764, while Pontiac was besieging Detroit, Gen. Bradstreet col¬ 
lected a force of 3,000 men, which embarked at Niagara in boats and 
proceeded up the lake to the relief of that post. Having burned the 
Indian corn-fields and villages at Sandusky and along the rich bot¬ 
toms of the Maumee, and dispersed the Indians whom they there then 
found, he reached Detroit without opposition.! Having dispersed 
the Indians besieging Detroit, he passed into the Wyandot country 
by way of Sandusky bay. He ascended the bay and river as far 
as it was navigable for boats and there made a camp. A treaty of 
peace and friendship was signed by the chiefs and head men.J 
Erie, Huron, and a small part of Ottawa counties comprise that 
portion of the Western Reserve known as “the fire-lands,” being a 
tract of about 500,000 acres, granted by the State of Connecticut to 
the sufferers by fire from the British in their incursions into that 
State.§ The history which follows of the fire-lands and the settle- 



* These facts are derived from the beautiful “ tradition of the Eries,” published in the 

Buffalo Commercial, in the summer of 1845. That tradition (says the editor) “may be 

implicitly relied upon, every detail having been taken from the lips of Blacksnake and other 
venerable chiefs of the Senecas and Tonawandas, who still cherish the traditions of their 
fathers.” t Lanman’s Michigan. t Whittlesey’s address on Boquet’s expedition. 

§ For some facts connected with the history of the fire-lands, see sketch of the Western 
Reserve, to be found elsewhere in this volume. 
















ERIE COUNTY. 


151 


ment of this county, is from the mss. history of the fire-lands, by the 
late C. B. Squier, Esq., of Sandusky City. 

The largest sufferers, and, consequently, those who held the largest interest in the fire-lands, 
purchased the rights of many who held smaller interests. The proprietors of the fire-lands, 
anxious that their new territory should be settled, offered strong inducements for persons to 
Settle in this then unknown region. But, aside from the ordinary difficulties attending a 
new settlement, the Indian title to the western part of the reserve was not then extinguished; 
but by a treaty held at Fort Industry, on the Maumee, in July, 1805, this object was 
accomplished, and the east line of the Indian territory was established on the west line of 
the reserve. 

The proprietors of the fire-lands were deeply interested in this treaty, upon the result of 
which depended their ability to possess and settle their lands. Consequently, the Hon. 
Isaac Mills, secretary of the company, with others interested, left Connecticut to be present 
at these negotiations. Cleveland was the point first designated for holding the treaty. But 
upon their arrival, it was ascertained that the influence of the British agents among the 
Indians was so great as to occasion them to refuse to treat with the agents of the United 
States, unless they would come into their own territory, on the Miami of the Lakes, as the 
Maumee was then termed. Having arrived at the Maumee, they found several agents of 
the British government among the Indians, using every possible effort to prevent any nego¬ 
tiation whatever, and it was fifteen or twenty days before they could bring them to any 
reasonable terms. Soon after the conclusion of the treaty, the settlements commenced 
upon the fire-lands. 

It is quite difficult to ascertain who the first settlers were upon the fire-lands. As early, 
if not prior to the organization of the state, several persons had squatted upon the lands, at 
the mouth of the streams and near the shore of the lake, led a hunter’s life and trafficked 
with the Indians. But they were a race of wanderers and gradually disappeared before the 
regular progress of the settlements. Those devoted missionaries, the Moravians, made a 
settlement, which they called New Salem, as early as 1790, on Huron river, about two 
miles below Milan, on the Hathaway farm. They afterwards settled at Milan. 

The first regular settlers upon the fire-lands were Col. Jerard Ward, who came in the 
spring of 1808, and Almon Ruggles and Jabez Wright, in the autumn succeeding. Ere the 
close of the next year, quite a number of families had settled in the townships of Huron, 
Florence, Berlin, Oxford, Margaretta, Portland and Vermillion. These early settlers gen¬ 
erally erected the ordinary log cabin, but others of a wandering character built bark huts, 
which were made by driving a post at each of the four corners and one higher between 
each of the two end corners, in the middle, to support the roof, which were connected to¬ 
gether by a ridge pole. ’Layers of bark were wound around the side of the posts, each upper 
layer lapping the one beneath to shed rain. The roof was barked over, strips being bent 
across from one eave over the ridge pole to the other and secured by poles on them. The 
occupants of these bark huts were squatters, and lived principally by hunting. They were 
the semi-civilized race that usually precedes the more substantial pioneer in the western 
wilderness. 

For two or three years previous to the late war, the inhabitants were so isolated from 
other settlements that no supplies could be had, and there was much suffering for want of 
food and clothing ; at times, whole families subsisted for weeks together on nothing but 
parched and pounded com, with a very scanty supply of wild meat. Indeed, there was not 
a family in the fire-lands, between 1809 and ’15, who did not keenly feel the want of both 
food and clothing. Wild meat, it is true, could usually be procured; but living on this 
alone would much enfeeble and disease any one but an Indian or a hunter accustomed to it 
for years. 

For even several years after the war, raccoon caps, with the fur outside, and deerskin 
jackets and pantaloons, were almost universally worn. The deerskin pantaloons could not 
be very well tanned, and when dried, after being wet, were hard and inflexible : when 
thrown upon the floor they bounded and rattled like tin kettles. A man, in a cold winter’s 
morning, drawing on a pair, was in about as comfortable a position as if thrusting his limbs 
into a couple of frosty stove pipes. 

To add to the trials and hardships of the early settlers, it soon became very sickly, and 
remained so for several years. The following is but one of the many touching scenes of 
privation and distress that might be related: 

A young man with his family settled not far from the Huron river, building his cabin in 
the thick woods, distant from any other settlement. During the summer, he cleared a small 
patch, and in the fall, became sick and died. Soon after, a hunter on his way home, pass- 


152 


ERIE COUNTY. 


ing by the clearing, saw every thing still about the cabin, mistrusted all was not right, and 
knocked at the door to inquire. A feeble voice bade him enter. Opening the door he was 
startled by the appearance of the woman, sitting by the fire, pale, emaciated, and holding a 
puny, sickly babe! He immediately inquired their health. She burst into tears and was 
unable to answer. The hunter stood for a moment aghast at the scene. The woman, re¬ 
covering from her gush of sorrow, at length raised her head and pointed towards the bed, 
saying, “ there is my little Edward—I expect he is dying—and here is my babe, so sick I 
cannot lay it down ; I am so feeble I can scarcely remain in my chair, and my poor husband 
lies buried beside the cabin !” and then, as if frantic by the fearful recital, she exclaimed in 
a tone of the deepest anguish, “ Oh ! that I was back to my own country, where I could fall 
into the arms of my mother !” Tears of sympathy rolled down the weather-beaten cheeks 
of the iron-framed hunter as he rapidly walked away for assistance. It was a touching 
scene. 

A majority of the inhabitants of this period were of upright characters ; bold, daring and 
somewhat restless, but generous-minded. Although enduring great privations, much hap¬ 
piness fell to the kind of life they were leading. One of them says : “ When I look back 
upon the first few years of our residence here, I am led to exclaim, O! happy days of prim¬ 
itive simplicity ! What little aristocratic feeling any one might have brought with him was 
soon quelled, for we soon found ourselves equally dependent on one another ; and we en¬ 
joyed our winter evenings around our blazing hearths in our log huts cracking nuts full as 
well, aye! much better than has fallen to our lots since the distinctions and animosities 
consequent upon the acquisition of wealth have crept in among us.” 

Another pioneer says: “ In illustration of that old saw, 

* A man wants but little here below, 

Nor wants that little long,’ 

I relate the following. A year or two after we arrived, a visit was got up by the ladies, 
in order to call on a neighboring family who lived a little out of the common way. The 
hostess was very much pleased to see them, and immediately commenced preparing the 
usual treat on such occasions—a cup of tea and its accompaniments. As she had but one 
fire-proof vessel in the house, an old broken bake kettle, it, of course, must take some time. 
In the first place, some pork was tried up in the kettle to get lard— secondly, some cakes 
were made and fried in it— thirdly, some shortcakes were made in it— fourthly, it was 
used as a bucket to draw water— fifthly, the water was heated in it, and sixthly and lastly, 
the tea was put in and a very sociable dish of tea they had. In those good old times, per¬ 
fectly fresh to my recollection, the young men asked nothing better than buckskin pantaloons 
to go a courting in, and the young ladies were not too proud to go to meeting barefoot.” 

The following little anecdote illustrates the intrepidity of a lady in indulging her social 
feelings. A gentleman settled with his family about two miles west of the Vermillion 
river without a neighbor near him. Soon after, a man and wife settled on the opposite side 
of the river, three miles distant; the lady on the west side was very anxious to visit her 
stranger neighbor on the east, and sent her a message setting a day when she should 
make her visit, and at the time appointed went down to cross the river with her husband, 
but found it so swollen with recent rains as to render it impossible to cross on foot. There 
was no canoe or horse in that part of the country. The obstacle was apparently insur¬ 
mountable. Fortunately the man on the other side was fertile in expedients; he yoked 
up his oxen, anticipating the event, and arrived at the river just as the others were about to 
leave. Springing upon the back of one of the oxen he rode him across the river, and when 
he had reached the west bank, the lady, Europa-like, as fearlessly sprang on the back of 
the other ox, and they were both borne across the raging waters, and safely landed upon 
the opposite bank; and when she had concluded her visit, she returned in the same man¬ 
ner. The lady still lives on the same spot, and is noted for her goodness of heart, and cul¬ 
tivated manners. 

Early in the settlement of the fire-lands the landholders injudiciously raised the price of 
land to $5 per acre. The lands belonging to the general government on the west were 
opened for sale at $2 per acre ; immigration ceased, and as most of the settlers had bought 
their land on a credit, the hard times which followed the last war pressed severely upon 
them, and the settlements languished. Money was so scarce in 1820 and 1822, that even 
those who had their farms paid for, were in the practice of laying up sixpences and shillings 
for many months to meet their taxes. All kinds of trade was carried on by barter. Many 
settlers left their improvements and removed further west, finding themselves unable to pay 
for their lands. 

The first exports of produce of any consequence commenced in 1817; in 1818 the arti¬ 
cle of salt was $8 per barrel; flour was then $10, and a poor article at that. 


VIEW OF SANDUSKY CITY FROM THE BAY. 













































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































ERIE COUNTY. 


153 


There was no market for several years beyond the wants of the settlers, which was suf¬ 
ficient to swallow up all the surplus products of the farmer ; but when such an outlet was 
wanted, it was found at Detroit, Monroe, and the other settlements in the upper regions of 
Lake Erie. As to the commercial advantages, there was a sufficient number of vessels on 
the lake to do the business of the country, which was done at the price of $2,50 per barrel 
bulk, from Buffalo to this place, a distance of 250 miles. Now goods are transported from 
New York to Sandusky City as low as forty-seven cents per hundred, or $9 per ton. 
Most kinds of merchandize sold at a sale corresponding to the prices of freight. Domestic 
shirtings from fifty to sixty-two cents per yard ; satinets $2,50 to $3,50 do.; green teas 
$1,50 to $2,50 per lb.; brown sugar from twenty-five to thirty cents per lb.; loaf do. 
from forty to fifty per do., etc., etc. Butter was worth twenty-five cents, and corn $1,00 
per bushel. As to wheat there was scarcely a price known for some of the first years, the 
inhabitants mostly depended on buying flour by the barrel on account of the want of mills. 

The Indians murdered several of the inhabitants in the fire-lands. One of the most bar¬ 
barous murders was committed in the spring of 1812, upon Michael Gibbs and one Buel, 
who lived together in a cabin about a mile southeast of the present town of Sandusky. 
The murderers were two Indians named Semo and Omic. The whites went in pursuit of 
them ; Omic was taken to Cleveland, tried, found guilty and executed. Semo was after¬ 
wards demanded of his tribe, and they were about to give him up, when, anticipating his 
fate, he gave the war-whoop, and shot himself through the heart. 

In the late war, previous to Perry’s victory, the inhabitants were in much dread of the In¬ 
dians. Some people upon Huron river were captured by them ; and also at the head of Cold 
creek, where a Mrs. Putnam and a whole family by the name of Snow (the man excepted) 
were attacked. Mrs. Snow and one little child was cruelly butchered, and the rest taken 
captive, together with a Mrs. Butler and a girl named Page, and carried to Canada. They 
were, however, released or purchased by the whites a few months after. Other depreda¬ 
tions and murders were committed by the savages. 

Sandusky City, the county seat, is situated on Sandusky bay, 105 
miles north of Columbus, and 60 from Cleveland and Detroit. Its 
situation is pleasant, rising gradually from the lake, and commanding 
a fine view of it. The town is based upon an inexhaustible quarry 
of the finest limestone, which is not only used in building elegant 
and substantial edifices in the town, but is an extensive article of ex¬ 
port. A few hundred yards back from the lake is a large and hand¬ 
some public square, on which, fronting the lake, are the principal 
churches and public buildings. 

The first permanent settlement at Sandusky City was made in 
June, 1817, at which time the locality was called Ogontz place, from 
an Indian chief who resided here previous to the war of 1812. The 
town was laid out under the name of Portland in 1817, by its pro¬ 
prietors, Hon. Zalmon Wildman of Danbury, Ct., and Hon. Isaac 
Mills of New Haven, in the same state. On the first of July of 
that year, a small store of goods was opened by Moores Farwell, in 
the employment of Mr. Wildman. The same building is now stand¬ 
ing on the bay shore, and is occupied by Mr. West. There were 
at this time but two log huts in the place besides the store, which 
was a frame, and had been erected the year previous. One of the 
huts stood on the site of the Verandah hotel, and the other some 
sixty rods east. The first frame dwelling was erected byWm. B. 
Smith in the fall of 1817, the second soon after by Cyrus W. Marsh, 
and a third in the succeeding spring by Moores Farwell. The 
Methodist Episcopal church, a small frame building, and the first 
built, was erected in 1830 ; the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches 
in 1835 ; the Wesleyan chapel in 1836, and the rest since. 

Sandusky City contains 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, 1 Congregational, 

20 


154 


ERIE COUNTY. 


1 Reformed Methodist, 1 Catholic and 1 German Lutheran church, 
1 high school, a large number of dry goods and grocery stores, sev¬ 
eral forwarding and commission houses, 2 furnaces, 1 oil mill, 2 ex¬ 
tensive machine shops for the manufacture of the iron for railroad 
cars, 2 printing offices, 2 banks, and a population estimated at 



Milan from near the Sandusky City Road. 

3000. This town is now very thriving, and promises to be, ere many 
years, a large city. A great impetus has been given to its prosper¬ 
ity by the construction of two railroads which terminate here ; the 
first the Mad River and Little Miami railroad connect it with Cin¬ 
cinnati ; the other connects it with Mansfield, from which place it 
is constructing through Mount Vernon and Newark to Columbus: 
a branch will diverge from Newark to Zanesville. This last is one 
of the best built railroads in the country, and is doing a very heavy 
transportation business. The commerce of Sandusky City is heavy, 
and constantly increasing. The arrivals at this port in 1846 were 
447, clearances 441 ; and 843,746 bushels of wheat were among the 
articles exported. 

On the farm of Isaac A. Mills, west of the town, are some ancient 
works and mounds. In the late Canadian “ patriot war,” this city 
was a rendezvous for “ patriotsthey had an action on the ice 
near Point-au-Pelee island with British cavalry in the winter of 1838. 
They were under Captain Bradley of this city, who has since com¬ 
manded a company of volunteers in the war with Mexico. In this 
action the “ patriots” behaved with cool bravery, and although at¬ 
tacked by a superior force, delivered their fire with steadiness, and 
repelled their enemy with considerable loss. 

Twelve miles from Sandusky City, and eight from Lake Erie is the 
flourishing town of Milan, in the township of the same name. It 
stands upon a .commanding bluff on the right bank of Huron river. 
The above engraving shows its appearance from a hill west of the 
road to Sandusky City, and a few rods back of Kneeland Towns- 




























ERIE COUNTY. 


155 


end’s old distillery building, which appears in front. In the middle 
ground is shown the Huron river and the canal; on the right the 
bridge across the river; on the hill, part of the town appears, with 
the tower of the Methodist, and spire of the Presbyterian church. 

Below we give in a communication from the Rev. E. Judson, of 
Milan, a historical and descriptive sketch of the village and township: 

On the spot where the town of Milan now stands, there was, at the time of the survey 
of the fire-lands, in 1807, an Indian village, containing within it a Christian community, un¬ 
der the superintendance of Rev. Christian Frederic Den6ke,a Moravian missionary. The 
Indian name of the town was Petquotting. The mission was established here in 1804. 
Mr. Dencke brought with him several families of Christian Indians, from the vicinity of 
the Thames river, in Upper Canada. They had a chapel and a mission house, and were 
making good progress in the cultivation of Christian principles, when the commencement 
of the white settlements, induced them, in 1809, to emigrate with their missionary to Canada. 
There was a Moravian mission attempted as early as 1787. A considerable party of Christian 
Indians had been driven from their settlement at Gnadenhutten, on the Tuscarawas river, 
by the inhuman butchery of a large number of the inhabitants by the white settlers. After 
years of wandering, with Zeisberger for their spiritual guide, they at length formed a home 
on the banks of the Cuyahoga river, near Cleveland, which they named Pilgerruh, (“ Pil¬ 
grim’s rest.”) They were soon driven from this post, whence they came to the Huron, and 
commenced a settlement on its east bank, and near the north line of the township. To this 
village they gave the name of New Salem. Here the labors of their indefatigable mission¬ 
ary, were crowned with very considerable success. They were soon compelled to leave, 
however, by the persecutions of the pagan Indians. It seems to have been a portion of 
these exiles who returned, in 1804, to commence the new mission. 

The ground on both sides of the Huron river, through the entire length of the township, 
is distinctly marked at short intervals, by the remains of a former race. Mounds and en¬ 
closures, both circular and angular, some of which have strongly marked features, occur at 
different points along the river. 

The land in the township of Milan, was brought into market in 1808. In the summer 
of the following year, David Abbott purchased 1800 acres, in the northeast section of the 
township, and lying on both sides of the Huron, for the purpose of commencing a settle¬ 
ment. He removed here, with his family, in 1810. Jared Ward purchased a part of Mr. 
Abbott’s tract, and removed here, in 1809. He was the first “ actual white settler,” who 
had an interest in the soil. The progress of the settlement was at first rapid. When hos¬ 
tilities w r ith Great Britain commenced, in 1812, there were within the township twenty three 
families, and about forty persons capable of bearing arms. The progress of the settlement 
was interrupted by the war, and few or no emigrants arrived between 1812 and 1816. 
This interruption was not the only evil experienced by the inhabitants. The British, in the 
early part of the war, commanded Lake Erie, and could at any moment make a descent 
upon the place. Many of the Indians were hostile, and were supposed to be instigated to 
acts of cruelty, by the willingness of the British commander at Fort Malden, to purchase 
the scalps of American citizens. Occasional outrages were perpetrated; houses were 
burned, and in a few instances individuals were murdered in cold blood, while others were 
taken prisoners. Near the southwestern comer of the township, at a place known as the 
Parker farm,—from its having been first purchased and occupied by Charles Parker,—there 
was a block-house, used as a place of resort during the war. A military guard was kept 
here. Two young men, apprehensive of no immediate danger, on a pleasant morning, in 
the fall of 1812, left the block-house and wandered to the distance of a mile, for the pur¬ 
pose of collecting honey from a “ bee tree.” While in the act of cutting down the tree, 
they were surprised by the Indians, who, it seems, had been for sometime watching for their 
prey ; one of them named Seymour, was killed on the spot; the other was recognized by 
one of the Indians, made a captive and treated kindly. The Indian who captured him, 
had been a frequent guest in the family where the young man had resided. 

Sometime previous two men, Buell and Gibbs, had been murdered by the Indians, near 
Sandusky. Thirteen persons, women and children, had been captured near the present 
village of Castalia, some six miles to the westward of Sandusky. Of these, five, most of 
whom belonged to the family of D. P. Snow, were massacred. All the men belonging 
to the settlement were absent at the time of the massacre. These repeated butcheries, sup¬ 
posed at the time to be instigated by the British commander at Fort Malden, whither the 
scalps of all who were murdered were carried, kept the people of Milan in a constant state of 


156 


ERIE COUNTY. 


alarm. In August, Gen. Hull surrendered Detroit to the British, and from this time to the 
achievement of Perry’s victory, in September of the following year, the inhabitants were in 
constant apprehension for their personal safety. The sighing of the breeze, and the dis¬ 
charge of the hunter’s rifle, alike startled the wife and the mother, as she trembled for her 
absent husband, or her still more defenceless “ little one.” During this interval, General 
Simon Perkins, of Warren, with a regiment of militia, had been stationed at“ Fort Avery,” 
a fortification hastily thrown up on the east bank of the Huron river, about a mile and a 
half north of the present town of Milan ; but the inexperience of the militia, and the con¬ 
stant presence in the neighborhood of scouting parties of Indians, whom no vigilance could 
detect, and no valor defeat, rendered the feeling of insecurity scarcely less than before. 
Some left the settlements, not to return till peace w r as restored. Those who remained were 
compelled, at frequent intervals, to collect in the fort for safety, or made sudden flights to the 
interior of the state, or to the more populous districts in the vicinity of Cleveland, where a 
few days of quiet would so far quell their fears as to lead them to return to their homes, 
to be driven off again by fresh alarms. With the return of peace, in 1815, prosperity was 
restored to the settlements, and the emigration w r as very considerable. The emigrants were 
almost exclusively of the New England stock, and the establishment of common schools 
and the organization of Christian churches, were among the earliest fruits of their enter¬ 
prising spirit. The town of Milan was “ laid out” in 1816, by Ebenezer Merry, who had 
two years previously removed to its township. Mr. Merry was a native of West Hart¬ 
ford, in Connecticut, and by his example contributed much, as the proprietor of the town, 
to promote good morals among the early inhabitants. He took measures immediately for 
the erection of a flouring mill and saw mill, which contributed materially to the improve¬ 
ment of the town, and were of great service to the infant settlements in the vicinity. In 
the first settlement of the place, grain was carried more than fifty miles down the lake in 
open boats, to be ground ; and sometimes from points more in the interior, on the shoulders 
of a father, whose power of endurance was greatly heightened by the anticipated smiles of 
a group of little ones, whose subsistence for weeks together had been venison and horrimony. 

Mr. Merry was a man of acute observation, practical benevolence and unbounded hos¬ 
pitality. He repeatedly represented the county in the legislature of the state, was twice 
elected to a seat on the bench of the common pleas; an honor in both instances declined. 
He died, Jan. 1, 1846, at the age of 73, greatly beloved. 

David Abbott, as the first purchaser of land in the township, with a view to its occu¬ 
pancy as a permanent “ settler,” deserves some notice in this brief sketch. Mr. Abbott 
was a native of Brookfield, Mass. He was educated at Yale College. His health failed, 
and he was obliged to forego a diploma, by leaving college in the early part of his senior 
year. He soon after entered upon the study of the law, and located himself at Rome, 
Oneida co.,N. Y., whence he came to Ohio, in 1798, and spent a few years at Willoughby, 
whence he removed to Milan, in 1809. He was sheriff of Trumbull county, when the 
whole Western Reserve was embraced within its limits; was a member of the conven¬ 
tion for the formation of the Constitution of the State, previous to its admission to the 
Union, in 1802 ; was one of the electors of President and Vice President, in 1812 ; clerk 
of the supreme court for the county, and repeatedly a member of both houses of the state 
legislature. He was a man of eccentric habits, and his life was filled up with the stirring 
incidents, peculiar to a pioneer in the new settlements of the west. He several times trav¬ 
ersed the entire length of Lake Erie, in an open boat, of wLich he was both helmsman and 
commander, and in one instance was driven before a tempest, diagonally across the lake, 
a distance of more than a hundred miles, and thrown upon the Canada shore. There was 
but one person wdth him in the boat, and he was employed most of the time in bailing out 
the water with his hat, the only thing on board capable of being appropriated to such use. 
When the storm had subsided and the wind veered about, they retraced their course in the 
frail craft that had endured the tempest unscathed ; and after a weeks absence were hailed 
by their friends with great satisfaction, having been given up as lost. Mr. Abbott died in 
1822, at the age of 57. Of the other citizens who have deceased, and whose names de¬ 
serve honorable mention as having contributed in various ways to the prosperity of the 
town, are Ralph Lockwood, Dr. A. B. Harris and Hon. G. W. Choate. 

The religious societies of the place, are a Presbyterian, Methodist and Protestant Epis¬ 
copal church, each of which enjoys the stated preaching of the gospel, and is in a flour¬ 
ishing state. The two former have substantial and valuable church edifices, the latter so¬ 
ciety have one in process of erection. 

In 1832, a substantial and commodious brick edifice was erected as an academy, furnish¬ 
ing, beside two public school rooms and suitable apartments for a library, and apparatus, ten 
rooms for the accommodation of students. The annual catalogue for the last ten years, 
has exhibited an average number of about 150 pupils. 


FAIRFIELD COUNTY. 


157 


In 1833, a company of citizens, who had been previously incorporated for the purpose, 
entered vigorously upon the work of extending the navigation of Lake Erie, to this place, 
by improving the navigation of the river some five miles from its mouth, and excavating a 
ship canal for the remaining distance of three miles. After much delay, occasioned by 
want of funds, and an outlay of about $75,000, the work was completed, and the first ves¬ 
sel, a schooner of 100 tons, floated in the basin, July 4th, 1839. The canal is capable of 
being navigated by vessels, of from 200 to 250 tons burden. The chief exports of the 
place, are wheat, flour, pork, staves, ashes, wool and grass seeds. The surrounding country 
is rapidly undergoing the improvements incident to the removal of the primitive forests, and 
with the increased productiveness, the business of the town has rapidly increased. 

The value of exports for the year 1844, was $825,098 ; of this, more than three fourths 
consisted of wheat and flour. The importation of merchandize, salt, plaster, etc., for the 
same period, was in value $634,711. The almost entire loss of the wheat crop for 1845, 
very essentially diminished the amount of business from the harvest of 1845, to that of the 
following year. The last half of 1846, shows a decided increase over any previous season. 

In the foregoing sketch, our correspondent does not give the pop¬ 
ulation of the town. We should judge it to be not far from 2000. 

Castalia, a neat village, 5 miles southwest of Sandusky City, at 
the head of Coal creek, and bordering on a beautiful prairie of about 
3000 acres, was laid out in 1836, by Marshall Burton, and named 
from the Grecian fount. It contains 2 churches, 5 stores, and about 
400 inhabitants. 

The source of Coal creek, is a beautiful and curious flooding spring, rising from a level 
prairie at the village. This spring is about 200 feet in diameter, and 60 feet deep. The 
water is so pure, that the smallest particle can be seen at the bottom, and when the sun is 
in the meridian, all the objects at the bottom, logs, stumps, &c., reflect the hues of the 
rainbow, forming a view of great beauty. The constituents of the water are lime, soda, 
magnesia and iron, and it petrifies all objects, such as grass, stumps, bushes, moss, &c., 
which come in contact with it. The stream courses about three miles through the prairie, 
and empties into Lake Erie. The water is very cold, but never freezes, and at its point of 
entrance into the lake, prevents the formation of ice. The stream at present furnishes 
power for twenty two runs of stone. Upon it, are the well-known Castalia and Coal creek 
mills, the water wheels of which are imperishable from decay, in consequence of their being 
incrusted by petrifaction. About two miles north of Castalia, is a cave, lately discovered 
and not as yet fully explored. Seven apartments have been entered, which abound in 
beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. A dog running into an aperture at the mouth of the 
cave, in pursuit of a rabbit, led to its discovery. The fountain and cave attract many 
visiters. 

Huron, at the mouth of Huron river, 10 miles east of Sandusky 
City, is an older town than the county seat, and was formerly the 
greatest business place in the county. It is as yet an important 
point for the shipment of wheat, and contains 3 churches, 4 forward¬ 
ing houses, 4 stores and about 400 inhabitants. Vermillion, at the 
mouth of Vermillion river, is a thriving village, containing from 50 to 
70 dwellings. Birmingham, a few miles above, on the same stream, 
is a somewhat smaller village. Berlinville, Berlin Center and Ven¬ 
ice are small places in the county. 


FAIRFIELD. 

Fairfield was formed, December 9th, 1800, by proclamation of 
Gov. St. Clair, and so named from the beauty of its fair fields. It 
contains every variety of soil, from the richest to the most sterile. 



158 


FAIRFIELD COUNTY. 


The western and northern parts are mostly level, the soil of which 
is very fertile, consisting of a rich loam, with a subsoil of clay. The 
remainder of the northern and western parts, together with the mid¬ 
dle and a part of the eastern portion, is undulating; the soil good, 
consisting of a clayey loam, mixed with vegetable mould, and in 
many parts, interspersed with gravel. The southern part is hilly and 
broken, the soil of which is thin and barren, composed in many 
places of sand and gravel. The staples are wheat, rye, oats, buck¬ 
wheat, corn, barley, potatoes and tobacco. The following is a list 
of its townships, in 1840, with their population. 

Amanda, 1937 Hocking, 2120 Pleasant, 2025 

Bern, 2431 Lancaster, 3278 Richland, 1960 

Bloom, 2288 Liberty, 2778 Rush Creek, 2426 

Clear Creek, 1716 Madison, 1085 Violet, 2400 

Greenfield, 2148 Perry, 1171 Walnut, 2098 

The population of the county, in 1820, was 16,508 ; in 1830, 
24,753 ; and in 1840, 31,858, or 59 inhabitants to a square mile. 



View in Main Street, Lancaster. 


Lancaster, the county seat, is situated on the Hockhocking river 
and canal, on the Zanesville and Chillicothe turnpike, 28 miles south¬ 
east of Columbus, 37 from Zanesville, 18 from Somerset, 19 from 
Logan, 35 from Chillicothe, 20 from Circleville, and 27 from New¬ 
ark. It stands in a beautiful and fertile valley, and is a flourishing, 
well-built town. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist, 1 Cath¬ 
olic, 1 Lutheran, 1 Protestant Methodist, 1 Baptist and 1 German 
Reformed church, about 20 mercantile stores, 2 newspaper offices, 
and had, in 1840, 2,120 inhabitants: it has since much increased! 
The engraving shows the appearance of the principal street in the 
town. It was taken near the court house, and represents the west¬ 
ern part of the street; the court house is shown on the right, and 
the market on the left, of the view. 

From the lecture delivered before the Lancaster Literary Insti¬ 
tute, in March, 1844, by George Sanderson, Esq., we derive the 
following sketch of the history of the town and county. 

The lands watered by the sources of the Hockhocking river, and now comprehended 















FAIRFIELD COUNTY. 


159 


within the limits of Fairfield county, when first discovered by the early settlers at Mari¬ 
etta, were owned and occupied by the Wyandot tribe of Indians. The principal town of 
the nation stood along the margin of the prairie, between the south end of Broad street 
and T. Ewing’s canal basin, and the present town of Lancaster, and extending back to the 
base of the hill, south of the Methodist Episcopal church. It is said, that the town con¬ 
tained in 1790, about one hundred wigwams, and a population of 500 souls. It was 
called Tarhe, or in English, the Crane-town , and derived its name from that of the prin¬ 
cipal chief of the tribe. Another portion of the tribe then lived at Tobey-town, nine miles 
west of Tarhetown, (now Royal ton,) and was governed by an inferior chief called Tobey. 
The chief’s wigwam, in Tarhe, stood upon the bank of the prairie, near where the fourth 
lock is built on the Hocking canal, and near where a beautiful spring of water flowed into 
the Hockhocking river. The wigwams were built of the bark of trees, set on poles, in 
the form of a sugar camp, with one square open, fronting a fire, and about the height of a 

man. The Wyandot tribe numbered at that day about 500 warriors.By 

the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, the Wyandots ceded all their territory on the Hock¬ 
hocking river to the United States. 

The Crane chief, soon after the treaty, with many of the tribe, removed and settled at 
Upper Sandusky ; others remained behind for four or five years after the settlement of the 
country, as if unable or unwilling to tear themselves away from the graves of their fore¬ 
fathers and their hunting grounds. They were, however, so peaceably disposed towards 
the settlers, that no one felt willing to drive them away. In process of time, the game and 
fur became scarce, and the lingering Indian, unwilling to labor for a living, was forced, by 
stern necessity, to quit the country, and take up his abode with those of his tribe, who had 
preceded him at Upper Sandusky. 

In 1796, Ebenezer Zane opened the road, known as “Zane’s 
Trace,” from Wheeling to Limestone, (now Maysville.) It passed 
through the site of Lancaster, at a fording about 300 yards below 
the present turnpike bridge, west of the town, and then called the 
“crossings of the Hockhocking.” He located one of his three 
tracts of land, given by congress for the performance of this task, 
on the Hockhocking, at Lancaster. 

In 1797, Zane’s trace having opened a communication between the eastern states and 
Kentucky, many individuals in both directions, wishing to better their condition in life, by 
emigrating and settling in the “ backwoods,” so called, visited the Hockhocking valley for 
that purpose. Finding the country surpassingly fertile, abounding in fine springs of the 
purest water, they determined to make it their new homes. 

In April, 1798, Capt. Joseph Hunter, a bold and enterprising man, with his family, em¬ 
igrated from Kentucky, and settled on Zane’s trace, upon the bank of the prairie, west of 
the crossings, and about one hundred and fifty yards northwest of the present turnpike road, 
and which place was called “ Hunter’s settlement.” Here he cleared off the underbrush, 
felled the forest trees and erected a cabin, at a time when he had not a neighbor nearer 
than the Muskingum or Scioto rivers. This was the commencement of the first settlement 
in the Upper Hockhocking valley, and Capt. Hunter is regarded as the founder of the flour¬ 
ishing and populous county of Fairfield. He lived to see the county densely settled and in 
a high state of improvement, and died about the year 1829. His wife was the first white 
woman that settled in the valley, and shared with her husband all the toils, sufferings, hard¬ 
ships and privations incident to the formation of the new settlement. During the spring 
of the same year, (1798,) Nathaniel Wilson, the elder, John and Allen Green, John and 
Joseph M’ Mullen, Robert Cooper, Isaac Shaeffer and a few others, reached the valley, 
erected cabins and put out a crop of com. 

In 1799, the tide of emigration set in with great force. In the spring of this year, two 
settlements were made in the present township of Greenfield. Each settlement contained 
twenty or thirty families. One was called the Forks of the Hockhocking, and the other 
Yankeetown. Settlements were also made along the river below Hunter’s, on Rush creek. 
Raccoon and Indian creeks, Pleasant run, Fetter’s run, at Tobeytown, Muddy Prairie, and 
on Clear creek. In the fall of 1799, Joseph Loveland and Hezekiah Smith, erected a log 
grist mill at the upper falls of the Hockhocking, now called the Rock mill. This was the 
first grist mill built on the Hockhocking. 

In April, 1799, Samuel Coates, sen., and Samuel Coates, jr., from England, built a 
cabin in the prairie at the “ Crossings of the Hockhocking,” kept bachelors hall and raised 


160 


FAIRFIELD COUNTY. 


a crop of com. In the latter part of the year, a mail route was established along Zanes’s 
trace, from Wheeling to Limestone. The mail was carried through on horseback, and at 
first, only once a week. Samuel Coates, sen., was the postmaster, and kept his office at the 
Crossings. This was the first established mail route through the interior of the territory, 
and Samuel Coates was the first postmaster at the new settlements. 

The settlers subsisted principally on com bread, potatoes, milk and butter, and wild 
meats. Flour, tea and coffee were scarcely to be had ; and when brought to the country, 
such prices were asked, as to put it out of the reach of many to purchase. Salt was an 
indispensable article, and cost at the Scioto salt works, $5 per 50 pounds. Flour brought 
$16 per barrel; tea, $2,50 ; coffee, $1,50 ; spice and pepper, $1 per pound. 

In the fall of 1800, Ebenezer Zane laid out Lancaster, and by way 
of compliment to a number of emigrants from Lancaster co., Pa., 
called it New Lancaster. It retained that name until 1805, when, 
by an act of the legislature, the word “ New” was dropped. A 
sale of lots took place soon after the town was laid off, and sold to 
purchasers at prices ranging from five to fifty dollars each. The 
greater portion of the purchasers were mechanics, and they imme¬ 
diately set about putting up log buildings. Much of the material 
needed for that purpose, was found upon their lots and in the streets, 
and so rapidly did the work of improvement progress, during the 
fall of 1800 and following winter, that in the spring of 1801, the 
principal streets and alleys assumed their present shapes, and gave 
assurance that New Lancaster would, at no distant day, become a 
town of some importance. 

About this time, merchants and professional men made their appearance. The Rev. 
John Wright, of the Presbyterian church, settled in Lancaster, in 1801, and the Rev. Asa 
Shinn and Rev. James Quinn, of the Methodist church, travelled on the Fairfield circuit. 

Shortly after the settlement, and while the stumps yet remained in the streets, a small 
portion of the settlers occasionally indulged in drinking frolics, ending frequently in fights. 
In the absence of law, the better disposed part of the population, determined to stop the 
growing evil. They accordingly met and resolved, that any person of the town found in¬ 
toxicated, should, for every such offence, dig a stump out of the streets, or suffer personal 
chastisement. The result was, that after several offenders had expiated their crimes, dram 
drinking ceased, and for a time all became a sober, temperate and happy people. 

On the 9th day of December, 1800, the Governor and Council of the N. W. Terri¬ 
tory, organized the county of Fairfield, and designated New Lancaster as the seat of jus¬ 
tice. The county then contained within its limits, all, or nearly all, of the present counties 
of Licking and Knox ; a large portion of Perry, and small parts of Pickaway and Hocking 
counties. 

The first white male child born in Fairfield, was the son of Mrs. 
Ruhama Greene. This lady emigrated to this region in 1798, and 
settled three miles west of Lancaster, where her child was born. 
The sketch appended of her, is from Col. John M’Donald, of Ross 
county. 

Mrs. Ruhama Greene was born and raised in Jefferson county, Virginia. In 1785, she 
married a Mr. Charles Builderback, and with him crossed the mountains and settled at 
the mouth of Short creek, on the east bank of the Ohio, a few miles above Wheeling. 
Her husband, a brave man, had on many occasions distinguished himself in repelling the 
Indians, who had often felt the sure aim of his unerring rifle. They therefore determined 
at all hazards to kill him. 

On a beautiful summer morning in June, 1789, at a time when it was thought the enemy 
had abandoned the western shores of the Ohio, Capt. Charles Builderback, his wife and 
brother, Jacob Builderback, crossed the Ohio to look after some cattle. On reaching the 
shore, a party of fifteen or twenty Indians rushed out from an ambush, and firing upon 
them, wounded Jacob in the shoulder. Charles was taken while he was running to es¬ 
cape. Jacob returned to the canoe and got away. In the mean time, Mrs. Builderback 


FAIRFIELD COUNTY, 


161 


secreted herself in some drift-wood, near the bank of the river. As soon as the Indians 
had secured and tied her husband, and not being enabled to discover her hiding-place, they 
compelled him, with threats of immediate death, to call her to him. With a hope of ap¬ 
peasing their fury, he did so. She heard him, but made no answer. “ Here,” to use her 
words, “ a struggle took place in my breast, which I cannot describe. Shall I go to him 
and become a prisoner, or shall I remain, return to our cabin and provide for and take care 
of our two children.” He shouted to her a second time to come to him, saying, “ that if 
she obeyed, perhaps it would be the means of saving his life.” She no longer hesitated, 
left her place of safety, and surrendered herself to his savage captors. All this took place 
in full view of their cabin, on the opposite shore, and where they had left their two chil¬ 
dren, one a son about three years of age, and an infant daughter. The Indians, knowing 
that they would be pursued as soon as the news of their visit reached the stockade, at 
Wheeling, commenced their retreat. Mrs. Builderback and her husband travelled together 
that day and the following night. The next morning, the Indians separated into two 
bands, one taking Builderback, and the other his wife, and continued a westward course by 
different routes. 

In a few days, the band having Mrs. Builderback in custody, reached the Tuscarawas 
river, where they encamped, and were soon rejoined by the band that had had her husband 
in charge. Here the murderers exhibited his scalp on the top of a pole, and to convince 
her that they had killed him, pulled it down and threw it into her lap. She recognized it 
at once by the redness of his hair. She said nothing, and uttered no complaint. It was 
evening ; her ears pained with the terrific yells of the savages, and wearied by constant 
travelling, she reclined against a tree and fell into a profound sleep, and forgot all her suf¬ 
ferings, until morning.* When she awoke, the scalp of her murdered husband was gone, 
and she never learned what became of it. 

As soon as the capture of Builderback was known at Wheeling, a party of scouts set 
off in pursuit, and taking the trail of one of the bands, followed it until they found the 
body of Builderback. He had been tomahawked and scalped, and apparently suffered a 
lingering death. 

The Indians, on reaching their towns on the Big Miami, adopted Mrs. Builderback into 
a family, with whom she resided until released from captivity. She remained a prisoner 
about nine months, performing the labor and drudgery of squaws, such as carrying in meat 
from the hunting grounds, preparing and drying it, making moccasins, leggings and other 
clothing for the family in which she was raised. After her adoption, she suffered much 
from the rough and filthy manner of Indian living, but had no cause to complain of ill- 
treatment otherwise. 

In a few months after her capture, some friendly Indians informed the commandant at 
Fort Washington, that there was a white woman in captivity at the Miami towns. She 
was ransomed and brought into the fort, and in a few weeks was sent up the river to her 
lonely cabin, and to the embrace of her two orphan children. She then re-crossed the 
mountains, and settled in her native county. 

In 1791, Mrs. Builderback married Mr. John Green, and in 1798, they emigrated to the 
Hockhocking valley, and settled about three miles west of Lancaster, where she continued 
to reside until the time of her death, about the year 1842. She survived her last husband 
about ten years. 

Near the town of Lancaster, stands a bold and romantic emi¬ 
nence, about two hundred feet high, known as Mt. Pleasant, which 
was called by the Indians, “ the Standing Stone.” A writer on 
geology says, in reference to this rock: “ What is properly called 
the sandstone formation, terminates near Lancaster, in immense de¬ 
tached mural precipices, like the remains of ancient islands ; one of 
these, called Mt. Pleasant, seated on the borders of a large plain, 


* Her husband commanded a company at Crawford’s defeat. He was a large, noble 
looking mjan, and a bold and intrepid warrior. He was in the bloody Moravian campaign, 
and took his share in the tragedy, by shedding the first blood on that occasion, when he 
shot, tomahawked and scalped Shebosh, a Moravian chief. But retributive justice was 
meted to him. After being taken prisoner, the Indians inquired his name. “ Charles 
Builderback,” replied he, after some little pause. At this revelation, the Indians stared at 
each other with a malignant triumph. “ Ha!” said they, “ you kill many Indians—you 
big captain—you kill Moravians.” From that moment, probably, his death was decreed. 

21 



162 


FAYETTE COUNTY. 


affords from its top a fine view of the adjacent country. The base 
is a mile and a half in circumference, while the apex is only about 
thirty by one hundred yards, resembling, at a distance, a huge pyra¬ 
mid. These lofty towers of sandstone are like so many monuments. 



Mount Pleasant. 


to point out the boundaries of that ancient western Mediterranean, 
which once covered the present rich prairies of Ohio.” 

It is a place much resorted to by parties of pleasure. The Duke 
of Saxe Weimar, when in this country some twenty years since, 
visited this mount and carved his name upon the rocks. The lecture 
delivered before the Literary Institute, gives a thrilling narrative of 
the visit of two gallant scouts to this spot, at an early day—their 
successful fight with the Indians—the re-capture of a female pris¬ 
oner, and their perilous escape from the enemy. 

There are several small villages in the county, some of which are 
thriving business places. They are Amanda, Baltimore, Bazil, Bre¬ 
men, Carroll, Greencastle, Havenport, Lockville, Monticello, Millers- 
port, New Geneva, New Strasburg, New Salem, Pickerington, 
rleasantville, Royalton, Rushville, (East and West,) Waterloo and 
Winchester. 


FAYETTE. 

Fayette was formed in March, 1810, from Ross and Highland, 
and named from the Marquis De La Fayette. The surface is gen¬ 
erally level; about half of the soil is a dark, vegetable loam, on a 
clayey sub-soil, mixed with a limestone gravel; the rest is a yellow, 
clayey loam. The principal productions are wheat and corn, cattle, 













FAYETTE COUNTY. 


103 


hogs, sheep and wool. In the northeastern part is a small tract, 
called “the barrens” so termed from the land being divested of un¬ 
dergrowth and tall timber; it is covered with a grass well adapted 
to pasturage. The growth of the county, in former years, was re¬ 
tarded by much of the land being owned by non-residents and not in 
market, and also from the wet lands, which, contrary to the original 
opinion, have, when drained, proved very productive. The follow¬ 
ing is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population. 

Concord, 1074 Madison, 765 Union, 1945 

Green, 1616 Marion, 879 Wayne, 1540 

Jefferson, 1948 Paint, 1212 

The population of Fayette, in 1820, was 6,336 ; in 1830, 8,183, and 
in 1840, 10,979 ; or 26 inhabitants to a square mile. 



View in Washington. 


Washington, the county seat, is on a fork of Paint creek, 43 miles 
ssw. of Columbus. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist church, 
1 academy, 8 mercantile stores, 2 newspaper printing offices, 2 
woollen factories, 1 saw and 2 grist mills and 97 dwellings. It was 
laid out in 1810 as the county seat, on land given for that purpose by 
Benj. Temple, of Kentucky, out of his survey. 

The following are the names of some of the first settlers of this 
county, viz.: Colonel James Stewart, Jesse Milliken, Wade Loof- 
borough, Thos. M’Donald, Doctor Thomas M’Gara, John Popejoy, 
Gen. B. Harrison, Jesse Rowe, John Dewitt, Hamilton and Benjamin 
Rogers, William Harper, James Hays, Michael Carr, Peter Eyeman, 
William Snider, Judge Jacob Jamison, Samuel Waddle, James San¬ 
derson, and Smith and William Rankin. 

Colonel Stewart, at an early date, settled near the site of Bloom- 
ingburg, about 5 miles northerly from Washington. His untiring 
industry in improving the country in his vicinity, and the moral 
influence which he had in the community, will be long remembered. 
Jesse Milliken was one of the first settlers of Washington, was the 
first post-master and the first clerk of both the Supreme and Common 
Pleas Courts of the county, in all of which offices he continued until 
his death, in Aug., 1835. He was also an excellent surveyor, per¬ 
formed much of the first surveying done in the county, and erected 
some of the first houses built in the town. Wade Loof borough, Esq., 







164 


FAYETTE COUNTY. 


was one of the first citizens and lawyers in the county. Thomas 
M’Donald was one of the first settlers in this part of Ohio, built the 
first cabin in Scioto county, was engaged with Gen. Massie and 
others in laying off the county into surveys. He rendered valuable 
services in Wayne’s campaign, in which he acted as a spy, and was 
also in the war of 1812. 

Dr. Thos. M’Gara, now residing in Greenfield, Highland county, 
was one of the first settlers and first physician of the town of Wash¬ 
ington, where he practiced his profession for a number of years. He 
represented the county in the legislature, and was associate judge. 
John Popejoy, Esq., was one of the first justices in the county; he 
built the one story house on Court street, on the lot No. 5. It is said 
that he kept his docket on detached scraps of paper in the most con¬ 
venient cracks of his cabin, and that his ink was made of walnut bark. 
Although many amusing anecdotes are related of him, yet he was 
a good man, sincerely desirous of promoting peace and good will in 
the community. When a lawsuit was brought before him, his uni¬ 
versal practice was, if possible, to prevail upon the parties to settle 
the dispute amicably. He always either charged no costs, or took 
it in beer, cider, or some other innocent beverage, of which the 
witnesses, parties and spectators partook, at his request, and the 
parties generally left his court in better humor and better satisfied 
than when they entered. 

The first Court of Common Pleas in the county was held by Judge 
Thompson, at the cabin of John Devault, a little north of where 
Bloomingburg now stands. The judge received a severe lecture 
from old Mrs. Devault, for sitting upon and rumpling her bed. The 
grand jury held their deliberations in the stable and in the hazel brush. 
Judge Thompson was a man of strict and Puritan-like morality, and 
distinguished for the long (and in some instances tedious) moral lec¬ 
tures, given in open court, to the culprits brought before him. 

The pioneers of Fayette county were principally from Virginia 
and Kentucky, and were generally hale and robust, brave and gen¬ 
erous. Among the Kentuckians was a family of great notoriety, by 
the name of Funk. The men, from old Adam down to Absalom, 
were of uncommonly large size, and distinguished for their boldness, 
activity and fighting propensities. Jake Funk, the most notorious, 
having been arrested in Kentucky for passing counterfeit money, or 
some other crime, was bailed by a friend, a Kentuckian by the name 
of Trumbo. Having failed to appear at court, Trumbo, with about a 
dozen of his friends, well armed, proceeded to the house of the Funks 
for the purpose of taking Jake, running him off to Kentucky and de¬ 
livering him up to the proper authorities, to free himself from paying 
bail. 

The Funks, having notice of the contemplated attack, prepared 
themselves for the conflict. Old Adam, the father, took his seat in the 
middle of the floor to give command to his sons, who were armed 
with pistols, knives, &c. When Trumbo and his party appeared, 
they were warned to desist; instead of which, they made a rush at 


FAYETTE COUNTY. 


1G5 


Jake, who was on the porch. A Mr. Wilson, of the attacking party, 
grappled with Jake, at which the firing commenced on both sides. 
Wilson was shot dead. Ab. Funk was also shot down. Trumbo 
having clinched Jake, the latter drew him to the door, and was 
about to cut his throat with a large knife, when old Adam cried out, 
“ Spare him !—don’t kill him !—his father once saved me from being 
murdered by the Indians !”—at which he was let off, after being 
severely wounded, and his companions were glad to escape with 
their lives. The old house at which this fight occurred is still stand¬ 
ing, on the east fork, about 8 miles n. of Washington, with the bullet- 
holes in the logs as a memento of the conflict. 

The Funk family were no enemies to whiskey. Old Adam, with 
some of his comrades, being one day at Roebuck’s grocery—the first 
opened in the county, about a mile below Funk’s house—became 
merry by drinking. Old Adam, wishing to carry a gallon of whis¬ 
key home, in vain endeavored even to procure a wash-tub for the 
purpose. Observing one of Roebuck’s pigs running about the yard, 
he purchased it for a dollar and skinned it whole, taking out the bone 
about two inches from the root of the tail, which served as a neck for 
the bottle. Tying up the other holes that would, of necessity, be in 
the skin, he poured in the liquor and started for home with his com¬ 
panions, where they all got drunk from the contents of the hog- 
skin.* 

Captain John was a Shawanee chief, well known to the early 
settlers of the Scioto valley. He was over six feet in height, strong 
and active, full of spirit and fond of frolic. In the late war, he joined 
the American army, and was with Logan at the time the latter re¬ 
ceived his death wound. We extract two anecdotes respecting him 
from the notice by Col. John M’Donald. The scene of the first was 
in Pickaway, and the last, in this county. 

When Chillicothe was first settled by the whites, an Indian named John Cushen, a half 
blood, made his principal home with the M’Coy family, and said it was his intention to 
live with the white people. He would sometimes engage in chopping wood, and making 
rails and working in the corn-fields. He was a large, muscular man, good humored and 
pleasant in his interviews with the whites. In the fall season, he would leave the white 
settlement to take a hunt in the lonely forest. In the autumn of 1779, he went up Darby 
creek to make his annual hunt. There was an Indian trader by the name of Fallenash, 
who traversed the country from one Indian camp to another with pack-horses, laden with 
whiskey and other articles. Captain John’s hunting camp was near Darby creek, and John 
Cushen arrived at his camp while Fallenash, the Indian trader, was there with his goods 
and whiskey. The Indians set to for a real drunken frolic. During the night, Capt. John 
and John Cushen had a quarrel, which ended in a fight: they were separated by Fallenash 
and the other Indians, but both were enraged to the highest pitch of fury. They made an 
arrangement to fight the next morning, with tomahawks and knives. They stuck a post 
on the south side of a log, made a notch in the log, and agreed that when the shadow of 
the post came into the notch the fight should commence. When the shadow of the post 
drew near the spot, they deliberately, and in gloomy silence, took their stations on the log. 
At length the shadow of the post came into the notch, and these two desperadoes, thirsting 
for each other’s blood, simultaneously sprang to their feet, with each a tomahawk in his 
right hand and a scalping-knife in the left, and flew at each other with the fury of tigers. 


* The preceding items of history respecting Fayette, are derived from a communication 
from a gentleman residing in Washington. 




166 


FRANKLIN COUNTY. 


swinging their tomahawks around their heads and yelling in the most terrific manner. 
Language fails to describe the horrible scene. After several passes and some wounds, 
Captain John’s tomahawk fell on Cushen’s head and left him lifeless on the ground. Thus 
ended this affair of honor, and the guilty one escaped. 

About the year 1800, Captain John, with a party of Indians, went to hunt on the waters 
of what is called the Rattlesnake fork of Paint creek, a branch of the Scioto river. After 
they had been some time at camp, Captain John and his wife had a quarrel and mutually 
agreed to separate, which of them was to leave the camp is not now recollected. After 
they had divided their property,the wife insisted upon keeping the child ; they had but one, 
a little boy of two or three years of age. The wife laid hold of the child, and John at¬ 
tempted to wrest it from her; at length John’s passion was roused to a fury, he drew his 
fist, knocked down his wife, seized the child and carrying it to a log cut it into two parts, 
and then, throwing one half -to his wife, bade her take it, but never again show her face, 
or he would treat her in the same manner. Thus ended this cruel and brutal scene of 
savage tragedy. 

Bloomingburg, on the east fork of Paint, 5 miles easterly from 
Washington, has 4 stores, 3 churches and about 300 inhabitants. 
Jeffersonville, 10 nw. from Washington, has one church, 2 stores and 
about 200 inhabitants. Waterloo, Martinsburg, Staunton and Mount 
Vernon are small places. 


FRANKLIN. 


Franklin was formed from Ross, April 30th, 1803, and named 
from Benj. Franklin. The prevailing character of the soil is clay, 
and the surface is generally level. It contains much low and wet 
land, and is better adapted to grazing than grain, but along the nu¬ 
merous water courses are many fertile and well-cultivated farms. 
The principal products are corn, whea ! t, oats, hay, potatoes, pork and 
wool. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their 
population. 

Blendon, 972 Jefferson, 1040 Plain, 1263 

Brown, 425 Madison, 1815 Pleasant, 811 

Clinton, 965 Mifflin, 832 Prairie, 603 

Franklin, 1345 Montgomery, 7497 Sharon, 1168 

Hamilton, 1238 Norwich, 740 Truro, 1418 

Jackson, 787 Perry, 1039 Washington, 842 

The population of Franklin, in 1820, was 10,300; in 1830, 14,756, 
and in 1840, 24,880, or 49 inhabitants to a square mile. 

• The tract comprised within the limits of the county, was once the 
residence of the Wyandot Indians. They had a large town on the 
site of the city of Columbus, and cultivated extensive fields of corn 
on the river bottoms opposite their town. Mr. Jeremiah Armstrong, 
who now or recently kept a hotel at Columbus, was taken prisoner 
when a boy from the frontier of Pennsylvania, and brought captive 
to this place: after residing with them a number of years, he was 
ransomed and returned to his friends. Mr. Robert Armstrong, also 
a native of Pennsylvania, being an orphan boy, was bound to a trader, 
and while trapping and trading on the Alleghany, himself and em¬ 
ployer were surprised by some Wyandots and Senecas. The mas- 



FRANKX.IN COUNTY. 


167 


ter was killed and Armstrong brought to their town at Franklinton. 
He was raised by the Indians, became a great favorite, lived, married 
and died among them. He was occasionally an interpreter for the 
United States. He left two sons, now with the Wyandots in the 
far west; both of them were educated, and one of them admitted to 
the Ohio bar.* 

In the year 1780, a party of whites followed a band of Indians from 
the mouth of the Kanawha, overtook them on or near the site of 
Columbus and gave them battle and defeated them. During the 
fight, one of the whites saw two squaws secrete themselves in a large 
hollow tree, and when the action was over they drew them out and 
carried them captive to Virginia. This tree was alive and standing, 
on the west bank of the Scioto, as late as 1845.f 

In June, 1810, there was an old Wyandot chief, named Leather- 
lips, executed in this county on the charge of withcraft. We take 
the account of this event from Drake’s life of Tecumseh, where it is 
abridged from an article by Otway Curry, in the Hesperian. 

General Harrison entertained the opinion that his death was the result of the prophet’s 
command, and that the party who acted as executioners went directly from Tippecanoe to 
the banks of the Scioto, where the tragedy was enacted. Leatherlips was found encamped 
upon that stream, twelve miles above Columbus. The six Wyandots who put him to death, 
were headed, it is supposed, by the chief Roundhead. An effort was made by some white 
men, who were present, to save the life of the accused, but without success. A council of 
two or three hours took place : the accusing party spoke with warmth and bitterness of 
feeling: Leatherlips was calm and dispassionate in his replies. The sentence of death, 
which had been previously passed upon him, was reaffirmed. “ The prisoner then walked 
slowly to his camp, partook of a dinner of jerked venison, washed and arrayed himself in 
his best apparel, and afterwards painted his face. His dress was very rich—his hair gray, 
and his whole appearance graceful and commanding.” When the hour for the execution 
had arrived, Leatherlips shook hands in silence with the spectators. “ He then turned from 
his wigwam, and with a voice of surpassing strength and melody commenced the chant of 
the death song. He was followed closely by the Wyandot warriors, all timing with their 
slow and measured march the music of his wild and melancholy dirge. The white men 
were likewise all silent followers in that strange procession. At the distance of seventy or 
eighty yards from the camp, they came to a shallow grave, which, unknown to the white 
men, had been previously prepared by the Indians. Here the old man knelt down, and in 
an elevated but solemn tone of voice, addressed his prayer to the Great Spirit. As soon as 
he had finished, the captain of the Indians knelt beside him and prayed in a similar man¬ 
ner. Their prayers, of course, were spoken in the Wyandot tongue.“ After a 

few moments delay, the prisoner again sank down upon his knees and prayed, as he had 
done before. When he had ceased, he still continued in a kneeling position. All the rifles 
belonging to the party had been left at the wigwam. There was not a weapon of any kind 
to be seen at the place of execution, and the spectators were consequently unable to form 
any conjecture as to the mode of procedure which the executioners had determined on for 
the fulfilment of their purpose. Suddenly one of the warriors drew from beneath the skirts 
of his capote, a keen, bright tomahawk—walked rapidly up behind the chieftain—brandish¬ 
ed the weapon on high for a single moment, and then struck with his whole strength. The 
blow descended directly upon the crown of the head, and the victim immediately fell pros¬ 
trate. After he had lain awhile in the agonies of death, the Indian captain directed the 
attention of the white men to the drops of sweat which were gathering upon his neck and 
face ; remarked with much apparent exultation, that it was conclusive proof of the sufferer’s 
guilt. Again the executioner advanced, and with the same weapon inflicted two or three 
additional and heavy blows. As soon as life was entirely extinct, the body was hastily 
buried, with all its apparel and decorations, and the assemblage dispersed.” 

One of Mr. Heckewelder’s correspondents, as quoted in his historical account of the In¬ 
dian nations, makes Tarhe, better known by the name of Crane, the leader of this party. 


* Col. John Johnston. 


+ Jonathan Alder, of Madison county. 





168 


FRANKLIN COUNTY. 


This has been denied ; and the letter of Gen. Harrison on the subject, proves quite conclu¬ 
sively that this celebrated chief had nothing to do with the execution of Leatherlips. Mr. 
Heckewelder’s correspondent concurs in the opinion that the original order for the death of 
this old man, was issued from the head-quarters of the prophet and his brother Tecumseh. 

The annexed anecdote, derived from J. W. Van Cleve, of Dayton, 
shows a more pleasing feature in the character of the Indian. 

A party, surveying on the Scioto, above the site of Columbus, in ’97, had been reduced 
to three scanty meals for four days. They came to the camp of a Wyandot Indian with 
his family, and he gave them all the provisions he had, which comprised only two rabbits 
and a small piece of venison. This Wyandot’s lather had been murdered by the whites in 
time of peace : the father of one of the surveyors had been killed by the Indians in time of 
war. He concluded that the Indian had more reason to cherish hostility towards the white 
man than he toward the Indian. 

The first settlement of this county was commenced in 1797. Some 
of the early settlers were Robert Armstrong, George Skidmore, 
Lucas Sullivant, Wm. Domigan, the Deardorfs, the M’Elvains, the 
Sellses, James Marshall, John Dill, Jacob Grubb, Jacob Overdier, 
Arthur O’Harra, Colonel Culbertson and John Brickell. This last 
named gentleman was taken prisoner when a boy, in Pennsylvania, 
brought into Ohio and held captive four and a half years among the 
Delawares. He was liberated at Fort Defiance, shortly after the 
treaty of Greenville. We cannot but digress here and extract from 
his narrative, published in the Pioneer, an affecting account of his 
separation from his Indian father, who bore the singular name of 
Whingwy Pooshies. 

On the breaking up of spring we all went up to Fort Defiance, and on arriving on the 
shore opposite, we saluted the fort with a round of rifles, and they shot a cannon thirteen 
times. We then encamped on the spot. On the same day Whingwy Pooshies told me I 
must go over to the fort. The children hung round me crying, and asked me if I was 
going to leave them? I told them I did not know. When we got over to the fort, and 
were seated with the officers, Whingwy Pooshies told me to stand up, which I did; he then 
rose and addressed me in about these words: “ My son, there are men the same color with 
yourself. There may be some of your kin there, or your kin may be a great way off from 
you. You have lived a long time with us. I call on you to say if I have not been a father 
to you ?—if I have not used you as a father would use a son ?” I said, “ You have used 
me as well as a father could use a son.” He said, “ I am glad you say so. You have 
lived long with me ; you have hunted for me ; but our treaty says you must be free. If you 
choose to go with the people of your own color, I have no right to say a word, but if you 
choose to stay with me, your people have no right to speak. Now reflect on it and take 
your choice, and tell us as soon as you make up your mind.” 

I was silent a few minutes, in w'hich time it seemed as if I thought of almost every thing. 
I thought of the children I had just left crying; I thought of the Indians I was attached to, 
and I thought of my people which I remembered ; and this latter thought predominated, and 
I said, I will go with my kin.” The old man then said, “ I have raised you—I have learned 
you to hunt. You are a good hunter—you have been better to me than my own sons. I 
am now getting old and I cannot hunt. I thought you would be a support to my age. I 
leaned on you as on a staff. Now it is broken—you are going to leave me, and I have no 
right to say a word, but I am ruined.” He then sank back in tears to his seat. I heartily 
joined him in his tears—parted with him, and have never seen nor heard of him since. 

In the month of August, 1797, Franklinton was laid out by Lucas 
Sullivant. The settlement at that place was the first in the county. 
Mr. Sullivant was a self-made man and noted as a surveyor. He 
had often encountered great peril from the attacks of Indians while 
making his surveys. 

Next after the settlement of Franklinton, a Mr. Springer and his son-in-law, Osborn, 
settled on Darby; then next was a scattering settlement along Alum creek, which last was 


FRANKLIN COUNTY. 


169 


probably about the summer of 1798. Among the first settlers here were Messrs. White, 
Nelson, Shaw, Agler and Reed. About the same time, some improvements were made 
near the mouth of Gahannah, (formerly called Big belly,) and the settlements thus gradually 
extended along the principal water courses. In the mean time, Franklinton was the point 
to which emigrants first repaired, to spend some months, or probably years, prior to their 
permanent location. For several years, there was no mill nor considerable settlement nearer 
than the vicinity of Chillicothe. In Franklinton, the neighbors constructed a kind of hand- 
mill, upon which they generally ground their corn. Some pounded it, and occasionally a 
trip was made with a canoe or periogue, by way of the river, to the Chillicothe mill. About 
the year 1799, a Mr. John D. Rush erected an inferior mill on the Scioto, a short distance 
above Franklinton ; it was, however, a poor concern, and soon fell to ruin. A horse-mill 
was then resorted to, and kept up for some time ; but the first mill of any considerable ad¬ 
vantage to the country was erected by Col. Kilbourne, near Worthington, about the year 
1805. About the same time, Carpenter’s mill, near Delaware, and Dyer’s, on Darby, were 
erected. About one year, probably, after the first settlement of Franklinton, a Mr. James 
Scott opened the first small store in the place, which added much to the convenience of the 
settlers. For probably seven or eight years, there was no post-office nearer than Chilli¬ 
cothe, and when other opportunities did not offer, the men would occasionally raise by con¬ 
tribution the means, and employ a man to go the moderate distance of forty-five miles to 
the post-office to inquire for letters and newspapers. During the first years of the settle¬ 
ment, it was extremely sickly—perhaps as much so as any part of the state. Although 
sickness was so general in the fall season as to almost entirely discourage the inhabitants, 
yet, on the return of health, the prospective advantages of the country, the luxuriant crops, 
and abundance of game of all kinds, together with the gradual improvement in the health 
of the country generally, induced them to remain. The principal disease of the country 
being fever and ague, deaths were comparatively seldom.* 

Franklinton lies on the west side of the Scioto, opposite Columbus. 
It was the first town laid off in the Scioto valley n. of Chillicothe. 
From the formation of the county, in 1803, it remained its seat of jus¬ 
tice until 1824, when it was removed to Columbus". During the late 
war, it was a place of general rendezvous for the N. W. army, and 
sometimes from one to three thousand troops were stationed there. 
In those days, it was a place of considerable note : it is now a small 
village, containing, by the census of 1840, 394 inhabitants. 

Worthington is a neat town, 9 miles n. of Columbus, containing 
3 churches, and by the census of 1840, 440 inhabitants. At this 

place is a classical academy, in the 
old botanic college building, in fine 
repute, under the charge of the Rev. 
R. K. Nash ; also a flourishing female 
seminary, under the patronage of the 
Ohio Methodist Conference, of which 
the Rev. Alex. Nelson is the principal. 
The building is of brick, and stands in 
Workington Female Seminary. a pleasant green. 

The township of Sharon, in which Worthington is, was very early 
settled by “ the Scioto Company,” formed in Granby, Connecticut, in 
the winter of 1801-2, and consisting at first of eight associators. 
They drew up articles of association, among which was one limit¬ 
ing their number to forty, each of whom must be unanimously chosen 
by ballot, a single negative being sufficient to prevent an election. 
Col. James Kilbourne was sent out the succeeding spring to explore 



* From “ A Brief History and Description of Franklin County, to accompany Wheeler’s 
map.” 

22 
















170 


FRANKLIN COUNTY. 


the country, select and purchase a township for settlement. He re¬ 
turned in the fall without making a purchase, through fear that the 
state constitution, then about to be formed, should tolerate slavery, 
in which case the project would have been abandoned. 

It is here worthy of notice, that Col. Kilbourne, on this visit, con¬ 
structed the first map of OHIO, which he compiled from maps of 
its different sections in the office of Col., afterwards Gov. Worthing¬ 
ton, then register of the United States land office at Chillicothe. The 
part delineating the Indian territory was from a map made by John 
Fitch, of steamboat memory, who had been a prisoner among the 
Indians, which, although in a measure conjectural, was the most 
accurate of that part of the N. W. territory. 

Immediately upon receiving the information that the constitution 
of Ohio prohibited slavery, Col. Kilbourne purchased this township, 
lying within the United States military land district, and in the 
spring of 1803, returned to Ohio and commenced improvements. By 
the succeeding December, one hundred settlers, mainly from Hart¬ 
ford county, Connecticut, and Hampshire county, Massachusetts, 
arrived at their new home. Obeying to the letter the articles of 
association, the first cabin erected was used for a school-house and 
church of the Protestant Episcopal denomination: the first Sabbath 
after the arrival of the third family, divine worship was held therein, 
and on the arrival of the eleventh family, a school was commenced. 
This early attention to religion and education has left its favorable 
impress upon the character of the people to the present day. The 
succeeding 4th of July was appropriately celebrated. Seventeen 
gigantic trees, emblematical of the seventeen states forming the 
Federal Union, were cut so that a few blows of the axe, at sunrise 
on the 4th, prostrated each successively with a tremendous crash, 
forming a national salute novel in the world's history. 

Columbus, the capital of Ohio and seat of justice for Franklin 
county, “is 106 miles southerly from Sandusky City, 139 miles south¬ 
west from Cleveland, 148 southwestwardly from Steubenville, 184 in 
the same direction from Pittsburg, Pa., 126 miles west from Wheel¬ 
ing, Va., about 100 northwest from Marietta, 105 northwest from 
Gallip^. 15 north from Chillicothe, 90 in the same direction from 
Portsmouth, at the mouth of the Scioto river, 118 northwardly from 
Maysville, Ky., 110 northeast from Cincinnati, 68 easterly from Day- 
ton, 104 southwardly from Lower Sandusky, and 175 due south from 
Detroit, Michigan. North lat. 39 deg. 57 min., west long. 6 deg. 
from Washington city, or 83 deg. from London. It is situated ex¬ 
actly on the same parallel of latitude with Zanesville and Philadel¬ 
phia, from which latter place, it is 450 miles distant; and on the same 
meridian with Detroit, Michigan; and Milledgeville, Georgia. The 
National road passed through it east and west, and the Columbus and 
Sandusky turnpike extends from this point north to Lake Erie. In 
all other directions roads are laid out, and many of them in good re¬ 
pair. By the Columbus feeder, water communication is opened with 
the Ohio canal, and thence to Lake Erie and the Ohio river.” 


FRANKLIN COUNTY, 


171 


From the first organization of the state government until 1816, there was no permanent 
state capital. The sessions of the legislature were held at Chillicothe until 1810 ; the ses¬ 
sions of 1810-11 and 1811-12, were held at Zanesville ; after that, until December, 1816, 
they were again held at Chillicothe, at which time the legislature was first convened at 
Columbus. 

Among the various proposals to the legislature, while in session at Zanesville, for the 
establishment of a permanent seat of government, were those of Lyne Starling, Jas. John¬ 
ston, Alex. M’Laughlin and John Kerr, the after proprietors of Columbus, for establishing 
it on the “ high bank of the Scioto river, opposite Franklinton,” which site was then a native 
forest. On the 14th Feb., 1812, the legislature passed a law accepting their proposals, and 
in one of its sections, selected Chillicothe as a temporary seat of government merely. By 
an act amendatory of the other, passed Feb. 17th, 1816, it was enacted, “ that from and 
after the second Tuesday of October next, the seat of government of this state shall be 
established at the town of Columbus.” 

On the 19th of Feb., 1812, the proprietors signed and acknowledged their articles at 
Zanesville, as partners, under the law for laying out, &c., of the town of Columbus. The 
contract having been closed between the proprietors and the state, the town was laid out in 
the spring of 1812, under the direction of Moses Wright. On the 18th of June, the same 
day war was declared with Great Britain, the first public sale of lots, by auction, was held. 
Among the first settlers, or as early as 1813, were George M’Cormick, Geo. B. Harvey, 
Jno. Shields, Michael Patton, Alex. Patton, Wm. Altman, John Collett, Wm. M’Elvain, 
Daniel Kooser, Peter Putnam, Jacob Hare, Christian Heyl, Jarvis, George and Benj. Pike, 
Wm. Long and Dr. John M. Edmiston. The first building erected for public worship was 
a cabin, on Spring street, in the spring of 1814, on a lot of Dr. Hoge’s, which was used by 
the Presbyterians. It was not long occupied for that purpose : that denomination then 
worshipped in the Franklinton meeting-house until 1818, when the 1st Presbyterian church 
was organized in Columbus, and a frame meeting-house erected on Front street, where 
Dr. Hoge preached until the erection of “ the 1st Presbyterian church,” about 1825. In 
1814, the Methodist church of Columbus was organized ; and the same year they erected, 
on the lot where the present Methodist church stands, a small hewed log-house, which 
served the double purpose of school-house and church until about 1824, when a permanent 
building was erected. 

The first penitentiary was erected in 1813. The state house was erected in 1814 ; the 
brick of this edifice were partly made from a beautiful mound near by, which has given the 
name to a street. On the 10th of Feb., 1816, the town was incorporated as “ the borough 
of Columbus.” The first board ofcouncilmen elected were Henry Brown, Michael Patton, 
Jarvis Pike, Robt. and Jeremiah Armstrong, John Kerr, John Cutler, Caleb Houston and 
Robt. M’Coy. About the year 1819, the United States or old court-house was erected. 
In 1824, the county seat was removed from Franklinton to Columbus. The present city 
charter was granted March 3d, 1834. The first newspaper in Columbus was commenced 
about the beginning of 1814, and was called “ the Western Intelligencer and Columbus 
Gazette:” it was the foundation, the original of “the Ohio State Journal.” 

For the first few years Columbus improved rapidly. Emigrants flowed in, apparently, 
from all quarters, and the improvements and general business of the place kept pace with 
the increase of population. Columbus, however, was a rough spot in the woods, off from 
any public road of much consequence. The east and west travel passed .^h Zanes¬ 
ville, Lancaster and Chillicothe, and the mails came in cross-line on horsebucic. The first 
successful attempt to carry a mail to or from Columbus, otherwise than on horseback, was 
by Philip Zinn, about the year 1816, once a week between Chillicothe and Columbus. The 
years from 1819 to ’26, were the dullest years of Columbus; but soon after it began to 
improve. The location of the national road and of the Columbus feeder to the Ohio canal, 
gave an impetus to improvements.* 

Columbus is beautifully situated on the east bank of the Scioto, 
about half a mile below its junction with the Olentangy. The streets 
are spacious, the site level, and it has many elegant private dwellings. 
Columbus has a few manufactories only; it does, however, a heavy 
mercantile business, there being many stores of various kinds. It 
contains 17 churches, viz.: 2 Methodist Episcopal, 1 German Metho- 


* From the brief history in the Columbus Directory, for 1843. 




172 


FRANKLIN COUNTY. 


dist, 2 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, 1 German Lutheran, 1 do. Evangelical 
Protestant, 1 do. Reformed, 2 Episcopal, 1 Catholic, 1 Welch Pres¬ 
byterian, 1 United Brethren, 1 Universalist and 1 Bethel, and 1 
Baptist for colored persons. The principal literary institutions in 
this city, are the Columbus institute, a flourishing classical institution 
for males, Mr. and Mrs. Schencks’ female seminary, and the German 
theological Lutheran seminary, which last has been established about 
17 years, Rev. Wm. Lehmann, professor of theology. There are 
in Columbus 6 weekly, 2 tri-weekly and 1 semi-monthly newspapers 
and several banks. Its population, in 1815, was about 700 ; in 1820, 
about 1,400; in 1830, 2,437 ; in 1840, 6,048, and in 1846, 10,016. 



Ohio Lunatic Asylum. 

The great state institutions located at Columbus, do honor to Ohio, 
give great interest to the city, and present strong attractions to 
strangers. 

Ohio Lunatic Asylum. —This noble structure occupies a com¬ 
manding position in an open space of ground, about one mile east of 
the state house. There are thirty acres of land attached to it, with 
an extensive plat in front of the building, handsomely ornamented by 
shrubbery. The institution is under the direction of Dr. William 
M’Awl, with whom are several assistants. The buildings present a 
continuous front of 376 feet: the main building is 296 feet in length 
and 46 feet in depth. The wings project beyond it 11 feet and ex¬ 
tend back 218 feet, thus forming a large court in its rear. The wings 
are 39 feet wide. 

“The buildings were commenced in the year 1836. They con¬ 
tain upwards of five millions of brick, and have cost (including the 
labor of convicts, which was a large item,) upwards of $150,000. 
They cover an acre of ground, and contain 440 rooms. They are 
capable of accommodating (besides the officers, assistants, attendants, 
&c.,) 350 patients. The style of the buildings is in good taste, and 
does credit to the architect, (N. B. Kelley, Esq.,) by whom the de¬ 
signs were prepared, and who presided over their execution. 

















FRANKLIN COUNTY. 


173 


“ The institution went into operation in the month of November, 
1838. Since that time, there have been in it 866 patients: 461 males 
and 405 females; 247 pay patients, 649 supported by the state; 358 
have been discharged cured—92 have died ; 420 were “ recent cases” 
(of less than a year’s duration when the patient was received,) 446 
were old cases, (of more than a year’s duration.) Of the recent 
cases discharged, 90.59-100 per cent, (or 289) were cured—of the 
old cases, 27 per cent, (or 69.) In addition to this, a great number 
of those incurable have been much improved in their condition. 

“ During the past year, [1846,] 175 patients have been admitted: 
88 males and 87 females. Of these,, 101 were “recent cases,” 74 
were old cases; 71 have been discharged “cured,” 18 have died. 
In the recent cases discharged, 95.38-100 per cent, were cured—in 
the old cases, 20.93-100 per cent. A number are still improving, 
with fair prospects of recovery. These results compare favorably 
with those in the best institutions, both in this country and abroad. 
The number of patients in the institution at the close of the fiscal 
year, was 291.” 



Ohio Blind Institution. 


The Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind, is situ¬ 
ated about three quarters of a mile easterly from the state house, on 
the national road, and is under the superintendence of W. Chapin, 
Esq. The building is a large and handsome structure of brick, in 
front of which the ground is pleasantly laid out into graveled walks, 
with flowers and shade trees. The institution was established in 
1837, is now flourishing and has about 100 pupils. They are taught 
in a liberal course of instruction in the several English branches, 
with lectures on moral and natural science. They are also instructed 
in vocal and instrumental music, and have among them an excellent 
band of music. In the afternoon, they are engaged in several me- 















174 


FRANKLIN COUNTY. 


chanical branches and fancy and ornamental work. The institution 
is flourishing, and the pupils contented and cheerful. 

The Ohio Asylum for the instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, 
is situated one third of a mile east of the state house. The build¬ 
ings, which are of brick, cost about $25,000, including the grounds, 
which are handsomely laid out and adorned with shrubbery. The 
number of pupils is about 130. The institution is under the super¬ 
intendence of H. N. Hubbell, Esq., and is in a thriving condition. 
Its site was selected in 1829, and it soon after went into operation. 



Ohio Deaf and Dumb Asylum. 


The pupils are daily instructed in the branches usually taught at 
other seminaries. The girls spend a portion of their time in do¬ 
mestic, and the boys in mechanical operations. 

These noble institutions are sustained by the state, with a liberality 
that pure benevolence must delight to witness. Their several su¬ 
perintendents feel vividly the importance of their responsibilities, 
and discharge them in a happy and judicious manner. 

The Ohio Penitentiary, the most imposing edifice in Columbus, 
is situated on the east bank of the Scioto, about half a mile north of 
the state house. The main building, shown in the annexed view, is 
built of Ohio marble. It contains the warden’s house, the office 
and guard rooms, and in each of its wings are 350 cells for pris¬ 
oners, arranged in five tiers. With its numerous workshops, this 
building forms a hollow square of six acres: about one third of this 
area is shown in the large view. A railroad, about two miles long, 
extends from the prison to a stone quarry, at which a portion of the 
prisoners work in getting out stone. 

The prisoners are all employed in several useful manufactures, 
and such is the efficiency of discipline, that the industry of the con¬ 
victs equals any association of voluntary or paid laborers. The 
discipline of the prison is conducted by rules, printed copies of 
which are given to the prisoners. At the sound of a bell, at noon, 


























FRANKLIN COUNTY. 


175 


they leave work and arrange themselves in thirteen different com¬ 
panies, in front of their workshops. One of these companies is 
composed entirely of blacks. When the bell strikes a second time, 
they march to their dinner, with their heads to the left, so as to bring 
their faces in view of the attendant, and prevent conversation. 



Ohio Penitentiary. 

They move in close order, with the lock-step, and make a shuffling 
noise, that echoes loudly upon the walls of the area. Arrived at the 
table, they arrange themselves before their seats. At the sound of 
a small bell, they take off their caps, and when it again sounds, com¬ 
mence eating. They eat from wooden dishes made in the prison, 
and drink from tin cups; in the morning, their beverage is rye cof¬ 
fee, at noon, water. Their knives and forks are coarse, with wooden 
handles. A late visitor describes, in a public print, the discipline 
of the prison and treatment of its convicts. 

The present warden has gathered around him assistants who have in their hearts much 
of the milk of human kindness. The new directory approves and seconds his labors, and 
as the result of these labors of love, the subordination is more perfect than ever before, the 
lash is very rarely used, the convicts are rarely reported, an air of cheerful alacrity charac¬ 
terizes the operations of the various shops, and all the movements of those who are com¬ 
pelled to pay the penalties of their crimes within the walls of the Ohio Penitentiary. 

There are, at this time, about five hundred convicts in the penitentiary. Their labor 
yields to the state a surplus of $16,000 or $18,000 annually. They receive an abundance 
of substantial food, and enjoy good health. On the Sabbath, they all attend religious ser¬ 
vices in the chapel. Their religious instruction is under the charge of Rev. Mr. Finley, 
one of the pioneer missionaries of the Methodist church, in the west—an old veteran of 
more than sixty winters, who is robust and vigorous, and whose heart overflows with love 
for poor, weak humanity. His tearful appeals have had their effect, too, and many of his 
charge do right from religious principle. There is a choir connected with the congrega¬ 
tion, that meets regularly for practice before service on Sabbath. During service, the 
effect is almost electric when those five hundred voices peal forth their sacred songs. With 
tears streaming from their eyes, have I heard these unfortunate men confessing their grat¬ 
itude for the blessed lessons they had been taught in the penitentiary. 

There is connected, also, with the penitentiary, a Sabbath school. Nearly one fifth of 
the convicts are permitted to avail themselves of its benefits. The instructions there given 
by Christians of the city, who attend for the purpose, exert an important, all-powerful in- 



















176 


FRANKLIN COUNTY. 


fluence for good upon the minds of the convicts. Superadded to all this, there is an excel¬ 
lent library of several hundred volumes, secured mainly through the labors of the present 
warden and chaplain. The former chaplain, (Rev. Mr. Mills,) laid the foundation. The 
convicts rejoice in the benefits of this library, and speak of it with grateful emotions. 
They all have Bibles in their cells, also. They are permitted to write, within stated pe¬ 
riods, to their friends and relatives, and receive as many letters as are sent to them, when 
containing nothing improper. At a meeting held a few Sabbaths since, in the chapel, and 
in reply to a question propounded, about fifty of them acknowledged that they had learned 
to read since they entered the prison. 

Temperance addresses are occasionally delivered in the chapel of the penitentiary. 
Messrs. T. and G. recently addressed the inmates. The question was put, “ How many 
committed the crimes of which they stand convicted, owing to the use and while under the 
influence of intoxicating drinks.” More than four hundred arose on their feet. Seventy 
or eighty admitted that they had been engaged in vending or making liquor. Nearly every 
one declared, by rising, his purpose to abstain entirely from the use of intoxicating drink 
the rest of his days. 

We here insert a curiosity, from the Columbus Gazette, of Aug. 
29th, 1822. At an early day, there was a law passed offering a 
bounty for the scalps of squirrels. Whether it was in force at this 
time, we do not know ; if so, it must have made quite a draft on the 
state treasury. 

Grand Squirrel Hunt !—The squirrels are becoming so numerous in the county, as to 
threaten serious injury, if not destruction, to the hopes of the farmer during the ensuing 
fall. Much good might be done by a general turn out of all citizens whose convenience 
will permit, for two or three days, in order to prevent the alarming ravages of those mis¬ 
chievous neighbors. It is therefore respectfully submitted to the different townships, each 
to meet and choose two or three of their citizens to meet in a hunting caucus, at the house 
of Christian Heyl, on Saturday, the 31st inst., at 2 o’clock P. M. Should the time above 
stated prove too short for the townships to hold meetings, as above recommended, the fol¬ 
lowing persons are respectfully nominated and invited to attend the meeting at Columbus. 

Montgomery —Jeremiah M’Lene and Edward Livingston. Hamilton —George W. 
Williams and Andrew Dill. Madison —Nicholas Goetschius and W. H. Richardson. 
Truro —Abiather V. Taylor and John Hanson. Jefferson —John Edgar and Elias Ogden. 
Plain —Thomas B. Patterson and Jonathan Whitehead. Harrison —F. C. Olmsted and 
Capt. Bishop. Sharon —Matthew Matthews and Bulkley Comstock. Perry —Griffith 
Thomas and William Mickey. Washington —Peter Sells and Uriah Clark. Norwich — 
Robert Elliott and Alanson Perry. Clinton —Col. Cook and Samuel Henderson. Frank¬ 
lin —John M’Elvain and Lewis Williams. Prairie —John Hunter and Jacob Neff*. Pleas¬ 
ant —James Gardiner and Reuben Golliday. Jackson —Woollery Coonrod and Nicholas 
Hoover. Mifflin —Adam Reed and William Dalzell. 

In case any township should be unrepresented in the meeting, those present will take 
the liberty of nominating suitable persons for said absent township. 

Ralph Osborn, Lucas Sullivant, 

Gustavus Swan, Samuel G. Flenniken, 

Christian Heyl, John A. M’Dowell. 

A subsequent paper says : “ the hunt was conducted agreeably to the instructions in our 
last paper. On counting the scalps, it appeared that nineteen thousand six hundred and 
sixty scalps were produced. It is impossible to say what number in all were killed, as a 
great many of the hunters did not come in. We think we may safely challenge any other 
county in the state to kill squirrels with us.” 

The following is a list of villages in this county, not previously 
mentioned, with their population in 1840. Dublin, 166 ; Harrisburg, 
81; Lockbourne, 139, and Reynoldsburg, 309. Central college is 
a new and flourishing institution, in Blendon township, of which the 
Rev. Mr. Covert is president. 







































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































* 


GALLIA COUNTY. 


177 


GALLIA.. 


Gallia was formed from Washington, April 30th, 1803. The word 
Gallia is the ancient name of France, from whence it was originally 
settled. The surface is generally broken, excepting in the eastern 
part and on the Ohio river and Kiger creek, where it is more level, 
and the soil fertile. Much of the county is well adapted to wheat, 
and a great part covered with a sandy loam. The principal crops 
are corn, wheat, oats and beans. The following is a list of its town¬ 
ships, in 1840, with their population. 


Perry, 973 

Raccoon, 1610 
Springfield, 991 
Walnut, 424 

Wilkesville, 738 


Addison, 692 Guyan, 342 

Cheshire, 791 Harrison, 688 

Clay, 745 Huntington, 972 

Gallipolis, 1413 Morgan, 744 

Green, 1047 Ohio, 626 

Greenfield, 639 

The population of the county was, in 1820, 7098; in 1830, 9733, 
and in 1840, 13,445, or 25 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The first settlement in the county was at Gallipolis. It was set¬ 
tled in 1790, by a French colony, sent out under the auspices of 
“ the Scioto company .” This company was in some way connected 
with the Ohio company. What that connection was, does not fully 
appear.* Col. Duer, of New York, “ secretary to the board of treas¬ 
ury,” a Mr. Flint and a Mr. Craig seem to have been the most 
prominent members of the company. 

In May or June, 1788, Joel Barlow, the agent of the company, 
left this country for Europe. He distributed proposals! at Paris, 
from which the annexed is an extract. 

Volney, who came to America in 1795, in his “View,” where we 
find the above, says : 


A climate wholesome and delightful, frost even in winter almost entirely unknown, and 
a river called, by way of eminence, the beautiful, and abounding in excellent fish of a 
vast size. Noble forests, consisting of trees that spontaneously produce sugar, (the sugar 
maple,) and a plant that yields ready-made candles, (myrica cerifera.) Venison in plenty, 
the pursuit of which is uninterrupted by wolves, foxes, lions or tigers. A couple of swine 
will multiply themselves a hundred fold in two or three years, without taking any care of 
them. No taxes to pay, no military services to be performed. 


* Volney speaks of the Ohio company as being the original proprietors, and the Scioto 
as purchasers from them. Judge Hall, in his Statistics of the West, says the Scioto com¬ 
pany, which was formed from or by the Ohio company, as a subordinate. Barlow, he 
says, was sent to Europe by the Ohio company—which fact the biographical sketch of 
Barlow also states—and by them the lands in question were conveyed to the Scioto com¬ 
pany. Kilbourn’s gazetteer says: “ the Scioto company, which intended to buy of con¬ 
gress all the tract between the western boundary of the Ohio company’s purchase and the 
Scioto, directed the French settlers to Gallipolis, supposing it to be west of the Ohio com¬ 
pany's purchase, though it proved not to be.” The company, he adds, foiling to make 
their payments, the whole of the proposed purchase remained with government.— Annals 
of the West. 

t Volney states that these proposals were distributed in 1790. 

23 



178 


GALLIA COUNTY. 


These munificent promisers forgot to say, that these forests must be cut down before corn 
could be raised ; that for a year, at least, they must bring their daily bread from a great 
distance ; that hunting and fishing are agreeable amusements, when pursued for the sake 
of amusement, but are widely different when followed for the sake of subsistence: and 
they quite forgot to mention, that though there be no bears or tigers in the neighborhood, 
there are wild beasts infinitely more cunning and ferocious, in the shape of men, who were 
at that time at open and cruel war with the whites. 

In truth, the market value of these lands at that time, in America, was no more than 
six or seven cents an acre. In France, in Paris, the imagination was too heated to admit 
of doubt or suspicion, and people were too ignorant and uninformed to perceive where the 
picture was defective, and its colors too glaring. The example, too, of the wealthy and 
reputedly wise confirmed the popular delusion. Nothing was talked of, in every social 
circle, but the paradise that was opened for Frenchmen in the western wilderness ; the free 
and happy life to be led on the blissful banks of the Scioto. At length, Brissot published 
his travels,* and completed the flattering delusion: buyers became numerous and impor¬ 
tunate, chiefly among the better sort of the middle class: single persons and whole fam¬ 
ilies disposed of their all, flattering themselves with having made excellent bargains. 

With the proposals, a map was shown at Paris by the agents 
of the Scioto company, Joel Barlow, from the United States, an 
Englishman by the name of Playfair, and a Frenchman, named De 
Saisson. An impression of this map is in the possession of Mons. 
J. P. R. Bureau, of Gallipolis, one of the original settlers. From it 
the annexed engraving was taken, omitting some non-essentials. 
The original is sixteen inches long and twelve wide. 

It is in French, handsomely engraved and colored, with the 
lands of the two companies and the tract east of them, all divided 
into townships of six miles square. It represents the Scioto com¬ 
pany’s tract as extending about one hundred miles north of the 
mouth of the Kanawha, and including more or less of the present 
counties of Meigs, Athens, Muskingum, Licking, Franklin. Picka¬ 
way, Ross, Pike, Scioto, Gallia, Lawrence, Perry, Jackson, Hocking, 
and Fairfield. This tract, on the map, is divided into 142 townships 
and 32 fractions. The north line of the Ohio land company’s tract 
is 18 miles south of the other, and included the present county of 
Morgan, and parts of Washington, Meigs, Athens, Muskingum, 
Guernsey and Monroe, there divided into 91 townships and 16 frac¬ 
tions. The tract east of that of the Ohio company, extends 48 
miles farther north. Upon the original, are the words “Sept rangs 
de municipalite acquis par des individues et occupes depuis, 1786 


* Volney here refers to the travels of Brissot de Warville. Brissot published several vol¬ 
umes relating to America, as we infer from his preface to his “ New Travels in America,” 
a work issued in the spring of 1791, and consisting in part of a series of letters written 
from this country, in 1788. In his preface to the last, he says: “the third volume was 
published in 1787, by Mr. Claviere and me.” In the last, he refers to the charges against 
the Scioto company, in this wise. “ This company has been much calumniated. It has 
been accused of selling lands which it does not possess, of giving exaggerated accounts of 
its fertility, of deceiving the emigrants, of robbing France of her inhabitants, and of send¬ 
ing them to be butchered by the savages. But the title of this association is incontestable; 
the proprietors are reputable men ; the description which they have given of the lands is 
taken from the public and authentic reports of Mr. Hutchins, geographer of congress. No 
person can dispute their prodigious fertility.” He elsewhere speaks, in this volume, in high 
terms of the company. 



GALLIA COUNTY. 


179 


i. e. Seven ranges of townships acquired by individuals, and occu¬ 
pied since 1786. 



The map is inaccurate in its geography, and fraudulent in its state¬ 
ments. It represents the country as “ cleared and inhabited,” when 
it was a wilderness, the only settlement being at Marietta, with per¬ 
haps some offshoots from it on the Ohio and Muskingum. 

The glowing representations made by the agents of the company, 
were well-timed for their enterprise. It was about the beginning 
of the French revolution, and the “ flattering delusion” took strong 




























180 


GALLIA COUNTY. 


hold. The terms to induce emigration, were as follows: the com¬ 
pany proposed to take the emigrant to their lands and pay the cost, 
and the latter bound himself to work three years for the company, 
for which he was to receive fifty acres, a house and a cow. runted 
deeds, executed at Paris, with all due formality, were given to some 
of the purchasers, by Playfair and De Saisson. About five hundred 
Frenchmen left their native country, landed mostly at Alexandra, 
and made their way to the promised land. They were persons ill- 



Gallipolis in 1791. 

fitted for such an enterprise. Among them were not a few carvers 
and gilders to his majesty, coach and peruke makers, friseurs and 
other artistes , about equally well fitted for a backwoods life, with 
only ten or twelve farmers and laborers. . 

On the map is shown the “ first town,” i. e. “ Premiere v ille ,’ lying 
opposite the mouth of the Kanawha. It was laid out by the Ohio 
company, under the name of Fair Haven; but as the ground there 
is low and liable to overflow, Gallipolis was located four miles be¬ 
low, upon a high bank, ten feet above the flood of 1832.'f 

This location was made just before the arrival of the French. Col. 
Rufus Putnam sent Major Burnham, with about forty men, for that 
purpose, who made the clearing and erected block-houses and cabins. 
Col. Robert Safford, now living near Gallipolis, was of this party, 
and cut the first tree. From his description, we give the view of 
the place at that time, the greater part of which stood on the site of 
the public square. 

On the public square stood 80 log cabins, 20 in each row. At 
each of the corners were block-houses, two stories in height. In 
front of the cabins, close by the river bank, was a small log breast¬ 
work, erected for a defence while building the cabins. Above the 


* J. P. R. Bureau. 


t Ibid. 

























GALLIA COUNTY. 


181 


cabins, on the square, were two other parallel rows of caoms, which, 
with a high stockade fence and block-houses at each of the upper 
corners, formed a sufficient fortification in times of danger. These 
upper cabins were a story and a half in height, built of hewed logs, 
and finished in better style than those below, being intended for the 
richer class. In the upper cabins was a room used for a council 
chamber and a ball room. 

The Scioto company contracted with Putnam to erect these build¬ 
ings and furnish the settlers with provisions ; but failed of payment, 
by which he lost a large amount. 

We continue the history of Gallipolis, in the annexed extract from 
a communication in the Pioneer, by Waldeurard Meulette, one of 
the colonists. 

At an early meeting of the colonists, the town was named Gallipolis, (town of the 
French.) I did not arrive till nearly all the colonists were there. I descended the river 
in 1791, in flat boats, loaded with troops, commanded by Gen. St. Clair, destined for an 
expedition against the Indians. Some of my countrymen joined that expedition ; among 
others was Count Malartie, a captain in the French guard of Louis XVI. General St. 
Clair made him one of his aid-de-camps in the battle, in which he was severely wounded. 
He went back to Philadelphia, from whence he returned to France. The Indians were 
encouraged to greater depredations and murders, by their success in this expedition, but 
most especially against the American settlements. From their intercourse with the French 
in Canada, or some other cause, they seemed less disposed to trouble us. Immediately 
after St. Clair’s defeat. Col. Sproat, commandant at Marietta, appointed four spies for 
Gallipolis—two Americans and two French, of which I was one, and it was not until after 
the treaty at Greenville, in 1795, that we were released. 

Notwithstanding the great difficulties, the difference of tempers, education and profes¬ 
sions, the inhabitants lived in harmony, and having little or nothing to do, made themselves 
agreeable and useful to each other. The Americans and hunters, employed by the com¬ 
pany, performed the first labors of clearing the township, which was divided into lots. 

Although the French were willing to work, yet the clearing of an American wilderness, 
and its heavy timber, was far more than they could perform. To migrate from the eastern 
states to the “ far west,” is painful enough now-a-days, but how much more so it must be 
for a citizen of a large European town ! even a farmer of the old countries would find it 
very hard, if not impossible, to clear land in the wilderness. Those hunters were paid by 
the colonists to prepare their garden ground, which was to receive the seeds brought from 
France; few of the colonists knew how to make a garden, but they were guided by a few 
books on that subject, which they had brought likewise from France. The colony then 
began to improve in its appearance and comfort. The fresh provisions were supplied by 
the company’s hunters, the others came from their magazines. When, of the expeditions 
of General St. Clair and Wayne, many of the troops stopped at Gallipolis to take provi¬ 
sions, which had been deposited there for that purpose by government; the Indians, who, 
no doubt, often came there in the night, at last saw the regulars going morning and eve¬ 
ning round the town in order to ascertain if there were any Indian traces, and attacked 
them, killing and wounding several—a soldier, besides other wounds, was tomahawked, 
but recovered. A French colonist, who had tried to raise com at some distance from the 
town, seeing an Indian rising from behind some brushwood against a tree, shot him in the 
shoulder; the Indian hearing an American patrole, must have thought that the French¬ 
man made a part of it; and sometime afterward a Frenchman was killed, and a man and 
woman made prisoners, as they were going to collect ashes to make soap, at some dis¬ 
tance from town. 

After this, although the Indians committed depredations on the Americans on both sides 
of the river, the French had suffered only by the loss of some cattle carried away, until the 
murder of the man above related. The Scioto company, in the mean time, had nearly 
fulfilled all their engagements during six months, after which time they ceased their supply 
of provisions to the colonists, and one of their agents gave as a reason for it, that the com¬ 
pany had been cheated by one or two of their agents in France, who, having received the 
funds in France for the purchased lands, had kept the money for themselves and run off 
with it to England, without having purchased or possessing any of the tract which they 


182 


GALLIA COUNTY. 


had sold to the deceived colonists. This intelligence exasperated them, and was the more 
sensibly felt, as a scarcity of provisions added to their disappointment. The winter was 
uncommonly severe ; the creek and the Ohio were frozen ; the hunters had no longer any 
meat to sell; flat boats could not come down with flour to furnish as they had done be¬ 
fore. This produced almost a famine in the settlement, and a family of eight persons, 
father, mother and children, was obliged to subsist for eight or ten days on dry beans, boiled 
in water, without either salt, grease or bread, and those had never known, before that time, 
what it was to want for any thing. On the other hand, the dangers from the Indians 
seemed to augment every day. 

The colonists were by this time weary of being confined to a few acres of land ; their 
industry and their labor was lost; the money and clothes which they had brought were 
nearly gone. They knew not to whom they were to apply to get their lands ; they hoped 
that if Wayne’s campaign forced the Indians to make a lasting peace, the Scioto company 
would send immediately, either to recover or to purchase those promised lands; but they 
soon found out their mistake. After the treaty of Greenville, many Indians passing through 
Gallipolis, on their way to the seat of government, and several travellers, revealed the 
whole transaction, from which it was ascertained that the pretended Scioto company was 
composed of New Englanders, the names of very few only being known to the French, 
who, being themselves ignorant of the English language, and at such a distance from the 
place of residence of their defrauders, and without means for prosecuting them, could get 
no redress. Far in a distant land, separated forever from their friends and relations—with 
exhausted means, was it surprising that they were disheartened, and that every social tie 
should have been loosened, nearly broken, and a great portion of the deceived colonists 
should have become' reckless ? May the happy of this day, never feel as they did, when 
all hope was blasted, ana they were left so destitute ! Many of the colonists went off and 
settled elsewhere with the means that remained to them, and resumed their trades in more 
populous parts of the country ; others led a half-savage life, as hunters for skins: the 
greater part, however, resolved, in a general assembly, to make a memorial of their griev¬ 
ances, and send it to congress. The memorial claimed no rights from that body, but it 
was a detail of their wrongs and sufferings, together with an appeal to the generosity and 
feelings of congress; and they did not appeal in vain. One of the colonists proposed to 
carry the petition; he only stipulated that his expenses should be paid by a contribution of 
the colonists, whether he succeeded or not in their object; but, he added, that if he ob¬ 
tained for himself the quantity of land which he had paid for, and the rest had none, he 
should be repaid by their gratitude for his efforts.* At Philadelphia, he met with a French 
lawyer, M. Duponceau, and through his means he obtained from congress a grant of 
24,000 acres of land, known by the name of the French grant, opposite to Little Sandy, 
for the French, who were still resident at Gallipolis. The act annexed the condition of 
settling on the lands three years before reviewing the deed of gift. The bearer of the 
petition had his 4000 acres; the rest was divided among the remaining French, amounting 
to ninety-two persons, married and single. 

Each inhabitant had thus a lot of 217£ acres of land ; but before the surveys and other 
arrangements could be made, some time was necessary, during which, those who had re¬ 
claimed the wilderness and improved Gallipolis being reluctant to lose all their labor, and 
finding that a company, owning the lands of Marietta, and where there was a settlement 
previous to that of the French colony, had met to divide lands which they had purchased 
in a common stock, the colonists sent a deputation for the purpose of proposing to the 
company to sell them the spot where Gallipolis was and is situated, and to be paid in pro¬ 
portion to what was improved, which was accepted. When at last the distribution of the 
lots of the French grant was achieved, some sold their share, others went to settle on it, or 
put tenants, and either remained at Gallipolis, or went elsewhere ; but how few entered 
again heartily into a new kind of life, after having lost many of their lives and much of 
their health, amid hardships, excess of labor, or the indolence which follows discourage¬ 
ment and hopeless efforts! Few of the original settlers remain at Gallipolis: not many 
at the French grant. 

Breckenridge, in his Recollections, gives some reminiscences of 
Gallipolis, related in a style of charming simplicity and humor. He 


* Our contributor is not clear here ; we presume he meant to say : “ But he added, that 
if he obtained as much, he would expect for himself the quantity of land he had paid for, 
viz : 4000 acres ; and if the rest who had no land got some, he would be repaid by their 
gratitude for his efforts.”— Ed. 




GALLIA COUNTY. 


183 


was at Gallipolis in 1795, at which time he was a boy of nine yeara 
of age. 

Behold me once more in port, and domicilated at the house, or the inn, of Monsieur, or 
rather, Dr. Saugrain, a cheerful, sprightly little Frenchman, four feet six, English measure, 
and a chemist, natural philosopher, and physician, both in the English and French signi¬ 
fication of the word.This singular village was settled by people from Paris 

and Lyons, chiefly artisans and artists, peculiarly unfitted to sit down in the wilderness 
and clear away forests. I have seen half a dozen at work in taking down a tree, some pull¬ 
ing ropes fastened to the branches, while others were cutting around it like beavers. Some¬ 
times serious accidents occurred in consequence of their awkwardness. Their former em¬ 
ployment had been only calculated to administer to the luxury of highly polished and 
wealthy societies. There were carvers and gilders to the king, coach makers, freizurs and 
peruke makers, and a variety of others who might have found some employment in our 
larger towns, but who were entirely out of their place in the wilds of Ohio. Their means 
by this time had been exhausted, and they w r ere beginning to suffer from the want of the 
comforts, and even the necessaries of life. The country back from the river was still a 
wilderness, and the Gallipotians did not pretend to cultivate any thing more than small gar¬ 
den spots, depending for their supply of provisions, on the boats which now began to de¬ 
scend the river ; but they had to pay in cash and that was become scarce. They still as¬ 
sembled at the ball-room twice a week ; it was evident, however, that they felt disap¬ 
pointment, and were no longer happy. The predilections of the best among them, being 
on the side of the Bourbons, the honors of the French revolution, even in their remote sit¬ 
uation, mingled with their private misfortunes, which had at this time nearly reached their 
acme, in consequence of the discovery that they had no title to their lands, having been 
cruelly deceived by those from whom they had purchased. It is well known that congress 
generously made them a grant of twenty thousand acres, from which, however, but few 
of them ever derived any advantage. 

As the Ohio was now more frequented, the house was occasionally resorted to, and es¬ 
pecially by persons looking out for land to purchase. The doctor had a small apartment 
which contained his chemical apparatus, and I used to sit by him, as often as I could, 
watching the curious operation of his blow-pipe and crucible. I loved the cheerful little 
man, and he became very fond of me in return. Many of my countrymen used to come 
and stare at his doings, which they were half inclined to think, had a too near resemblance 
to the black art. The doctors little phosphoric matches, igniting spontaneously when the 
glass tube was broken, and from which he derived some emolument, were thought by 
some, to be rather beyond mere human power. His barometer and thermometer, with the 
scale neatly painted with the pen, and the frames richly carved, were objects of wonder, 
and probably some of them are yet extant in the west. But what most astonished some of 
our visitors, was a large peach in a glass bottle, the neck of which would only admit a 
common cork ; this was accomplished by tying the bottle to the limb of a tree, with the 
peach when young inserted into it. His swans which swam around basins of water, 
amused me more than any wonders exhibited by the wonderful man. 

The doctor was a great favorite with the Americans, as well for his vivacity and sweetness 
of temper, which nothing could sour, as on account of a circumstance which gave him high 
claim to the esteem of the backwoodsmen. He had shown himself, notwithstanding his small 
stature and great good nature, a very hero in combat with the Indians. He had descended 
the Ohio in company with two French philosophers, who were believers in the primitive in¬ 
nocence and goodness of the children of the forest. They could not be persuaded, that 
any danger was to be apprehended from the Indians ; as they had no intentions to injure 
that people, they supposed no harm could be meditated on their part. Dr. Saugrain was 
not altogether so well convinced of their good intentions, and accordingly kept his pistols 
loaded. Near the mouth of the Sandy, a canoe with a party of warriors approached the 
boat; the philosophers invited them on board by signs, when they came rather too will¬ 
ingly. The first thing they did on coming on board of the boat, was to salute the two 
philosophers with the tomahawk ; and they would have treated the doctor in the same way, 
but that he used his pistols with good effect—killed two of the savages, and then leaped 
into the water, diving like a dipper at the flash of the guns of the others, and succeeded in 
swimming to the shore with several severe wounds whose scars were conspicuous. 

The doctor was married to an amiable young woman, but not possessing as much viva¬ 
city as himself. As Madam Saugrain had no maid to assist her, her brother, a boy of my 
age, and myself, were her principal helps in the kitchen. We brought water and wood, 
and washed the dishes. I used to go in the morning about two miles for a little milk, 


184 


GALLIA COUNTY. 


sometimes on the frozen ground, barefooted. I tried a pair of savots, or wooden shoes, 
but was unable to make any use of them, although they had been made by the carver to 
the king. Little perquisites, too, sometimes fell to our share from blacking boots and 
shoes; my companion generally saved his, while mine would have burned a hole in my 
pocket, if it had remained there. In the spring and summer, a good deal of my time was 
passed in the garden, weeding the beds. While thus engaged, I formed an acquaintance 
with a young lady, of eighteen or twenty, on the other side of the palings, who was often 
similarly occupied. Our friendship, which was purely Platonic, commenced with the story 
of Blue Beard, recounted by her, and with the novelty and pathos of which I was much 
interested. This incident may perhaps remind the reader of the story of Pyramus and 
Thisbe, or perhaps of the hortical ecologue of Dean Swift, “ Dermot and Shela ” 

Connected with this lady, is an incident which I feel a pleasure in relating. One day, 
while standing alone on the bank of the river, I saw a man who had gone in to bathe, and 
who had got beyond his depth, without being able to swim. He had began to struggle for 
life, and in a few seconds would have sunk to rise no more. I shot down the bank like an 
arrow, leaped into a canoe, which fortunately happened to be close by, pushed the end to 
him, and as he rose, perhaps for the last time, he seized it with a deadly convulsive grasp, 
and held so firmly that the skin afterward came off the parts of his arms which pressed 
against the wood. I screamed for help ; several persons came and took him out, perfectly 
insensible. He afterwards married the young lady, and raised a numerous and respectable 
family. One of his daughters married a young lawyer, who now represents that district 
in congress. 

Toward the latter part of summer, the inhabitants suffered severely from sickness and 
want of provisions. Their situation was truly wretched. The swamp in the rear, now 
exposed by the clearing between it and the river, became the cause of a frightful epidemic, 
from which few escaped, and many became its victims. I had recovered from the ague, 
and was among the few exempted from the disease: but our family, as well as the rest, 
suffered much from absolute hunger, a most painful sensation, as I had before experienced. 
To show the extremity of our distress, on one occasion the brother of Madam Saugrain 
and myself pushed a light canoe to an island above town, where we pulled some corn, 
took it to mill, and excepting some of the raw grains, had nothing to eat from the day 
before, until we carried home the flour and made some bread, but had neither milk nor 
meat. I have learned to be thankful when I had a sufficiency of wholesome food, how¬ 
ever plain, and was blessed with health; and I could put up with humble fare, without a 
murmur, although accustomed to luxuries, when I have seen those who have never experi¬ 
enced absolute starvation, turn up their noses at that, which was a very little worse than 
the best they had ever known. 

I had been nearly a year at Gallipolis, when Capt. Smith, of the Lhiited States army 
came along in advance of the barge of Gen. Wilkinson, and according to the request of my 
father, took me into his custody, for the purpose of bringing me once more to my native 
place. He remained two or three days waiting for the general, and in the meanwhile 
procured me hat, shoes and clothes befitting a gentleman’s son, and then took me on board 
his boat. Shortly after the general overtook us, I was transferred on board his barge, as a 
playmate for his son Biddle, a boy of my own age. The general’s lady, and several ladies 
and gentlemen, were on board his boat, which was fitted up in a style of convenience, and 
even magnificence, scarcely surpassed even by the present steamboats. It was propelled 
against the stream by twenty five or thirty men, sometimes by the pole, the cordelle, and 
often by the oar. There was also a band of musicians on board, and the whole had the 
appearance of a mere party of pleasure. My senses were overpowered—it seemed an Ely¬ 
sium ! The splendor of the furniture—the elegance of the dresses—and then, the luxuries 
of the table, to a half-starved creature like me, produced an effect which can scarce be 
easily described. Every repast was a royal banquet, and such delicacies were placed be¬ 
fore me, as I had never seen before, and in sufficient abundance to satiate my insatiable 
appetite. I was no more like what I had been, than the cast-off' skin of the black snake 
resembles the new dress in which he glistens in the sunbeam. The general’s countenance 
was continually lighted up with smiles, and he seemed faire le bonheur, of all around 
him,—it seemed his business to make every one happy about him. His countenance and 
manners were such as I have rarely seen, and now that I can form a more just estimate of 
them, were such as better fitted him for a court than a republic. His lady was truly an es¬ 
timable person, of the mildest and softest manners. She gave her son and myself a re¬ 
proof one day, which I never forgot. She saw us catching minnows with pin-hooks, 
made us desist, and then explained in the sweetest manner, the cruelty of taking away life 
wantonly from the humblest thing in creation. 




GALLIA COUNTY. 


185 


In 1807, Breckenridge again saw Gallipolis. 

As we passed Point Pleasant and the island below it, Gallipolis, which I looked for with 
anxious feelings, hove insight. I thought of the French inhabitants—I thought of my 
friend Saugrain ; and I recalled, in the liveliest colors, the incidents of that portion of my 
life which was passed here. A year is a long time at that period—every day is crowded 
with new and great and striking events. When the boat landed, I ran up the bank and 
looked around ; but alas ! how changed! The Americans had taken the town in hand, 
and no trace of antiquity, that is, of twelve years ago, remained. I hastened to the spot 
where I expected to find the abode, the little log house, tavern and labratory of the doctor, 
but they had vanished like the palace of Aladdin. After some inquiry, I found a little 
Frenchman, who, like the old woman of Goldsmith’s village, was “ the sad historian of the 
deserted plain,”—that is, deserted by one race, to be peopled by another. He led me to where 
a few logs might be seen, as the only remains of the once happy tenement which had 
sheltered me—but all around it was a common ; the town had taken a different direction. 
My heart sickened ; the picture which my imagination had drawn—the scenes which 
my memory loved to cherish, were blotted out and obliterated. A volume of reminiscen¬ 
ces seemed to be annihilated in an instant! I took a hasty glance at the new town, as I 
returned to the boat. I saw brick houses, painted frames, fanciful enclosures, ornamental 
trees! Even the pond, which had carried off a third of the French population by its mala¬ 
ria, had disappeared, and a pretty green had usurped its place, with a neat brick court 
house in the midst of it. This was too much ; I hastened my pace, and with sorrow, once 
more pushed into the stream. 



Public Square, Gallipolis. 


Gallipolis, the county seat, is pleasantly situated on the Ohio river, 
102 miles southeasterly from Columbus. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 
1 Episcopal and 1 Methodist church, 12 or 14 stores, 2 newspaper 
printing offices, and by the census of 1840, had 1,221 inhabitants, 
and now has about 1700. A part of the population is of French 
descent, but they have in a great measure lost their national charac¬ 
teristics. Some few of the original French settlers are yet living. 
The engraving of the public square, shows the market and court 
house near the center of the view, with a glimpse of the Ohio river 
on the left. 

The failure of the Gallipolis bank, at this place, a few years 
since, excited a strong sensation throughout the state. The history 
of the institution we derive from the communication of one familiar 
with it. 

The charter of the bank of Gallipolis, was passed in the year 1818, but the commis- 

24 





































186 


GALLIA COUNTY. 


sioners named in it, never judged it advisable to open books for subscription, until the 
spring of 1839, when they were opened at the solicitation of M. B. Sherwood, of Buffalo, he 
proposing, on behalf of the Erie County bank in that city, to subscribe to a large amount. 
Mr. Sherwood brought such strong testimonials of integrity of character, and ability to ac¬ 
complish what he proposed, as to satisfy the commissioners, and he was permitted to sub¬ 
scribe for $200,000 of the stock, paying thereon $20,000, by a certificate of stock deposit 
in the Erie County bank ; this certificate was paid at the time, to show that Mr. Sherwood 
was in earnest, in organizing the bank in good faith. He stated at the time, that those for 
whom he acted, were men of wealth—had established two banks in New York, the Staten 
Island and the Erie County banks, and were anxious to connect their business with a west¬ 
ern bank, as it would much facilitate the transaction of their business, and prove of mutual 
advantage and profits to both institutions. 

When the time came for putting the bank into operation, Mr. Sherwood was present 
with about $40,000 in specie and the paper of specie-paying banks ; the bank was exam¬ 
ined by a commissioner, Geo. House, appointed by the governor, Wilson Shannon, and au¬ 
thorized to do business as a bank, by the governor’s proclamation. The president, Mr. 
Smith, the cashier, Mr. Scovill, and Whiting, chief clerk, were also from Buffalo. The 
other directors were among the most respectable men of Gallipolis. The bank failed in 
January, 1841, when it became apparent, that a most stupendous system of fraud had been 
carried on by means of this bank and others, all under the management of the same band 
of swindlers, Sherwood, Cole and others. 

The manner seems to have been this. The directors of the Gallipolis bank had procured 
bills to be struck by Rawdon, Wright & Hatch, of New York, engravers, to the amount 
of $175,000, and this was the entire amount of bills as was supposed by the resident di¬ 
rectors ; but it turns out that the president and cashier, under the direction of Sherwood, 
had in some way procured bills to be struck to the amount of some $1,200,000, without 
the knowledge of the other directors, and while the books and accounts were kept, and the 
circulation predicated upon bills to the amount of $175,000, Sherwood was scattering 
broad-cast over the land, this vast fraudulent circulation, unknown to the resident direc¬ 
tors, until it was brought to light by the vast over-issue, coming in after the failure. 

There were other banks with which the same company was connected, to wit, the Man- 
hatten bank, in Lucas county, Ohio, the Circleville bank, at Circleville, Ohio, the West 
Union bank, at West Union, Ohio, and the Mineral Point bank, in Wisconsin. Sherwood 
seems to have operated largely in state stocks, paying for them in the paper of these fraud¬ 
ulent banks. When the explosion came, he and these banks were indebted to Illinois, near 
$100,000 ; to Indiana, about $600,000, besides an unredeemed circulation of these banks, 
of not less than from $300,000 to $400,000. 

Before the failure of the bank in January, 1841, a Mr. Farrington appeared in Gallipo¬ 
lis, in October of 1840, where he remained until January following, when he presented a 
transfer of the stock belonging to Kinney & Smith, in whose names it stood for the use of 
the Erie County bank, as was stated, and became himself president of the bank, under rep¬ 
resentations, on his part, of his great wealth. During the months of October, November and 
December, 1840, several strangers, of the names of Hill, Weed and others, appeared in 
Gallipolis, talked largely of their wealth, proposed entering into business, but never went 
beyond talking ; what their business was, no one knew. After the failure of the bank, it 
became apparent that these men were the associates of Farrington, and that their business 
at Gallipolis, had been to fill their pockets with the Gallipolis bank paper, and then to go 
off and pay it out for whatever they could obtain. They bought up property of every de¬ 
scription at exorbitant prices, in order to swindle the community. 

Farrington, Hill, Weed and some others, the men who had engaged in swindling in the 
fraudulent bank of Millington, in Maryland, seem to have purchased of Sherwood &, Co., 
the chance of what could be made by means of the Gallipolis bank, before the explosion 
should take place. Hill, in a letter to Farrington, received after his arrest, states that Sher¬ 
wood had cheated them, as he, Hill, was satisfied that there was a greater over-issue than 
had been represented. 

At the time of the failure of the bank, Farrington was arrested, and, with Scovill, Whi¬ 
ting and some others, indicted, tried, convicted, and sent to the penitentiary for six years. 
Whiting was arrested at Lowell, in Massachusetts, brought to Gallipolis, and confined to 
await his trial; but with the aid of certain persons, he escaped, and has never since been 
retaken. Sherwood was compelled to run for Texas, to protect himself from justice 

The assets of the bank, at the time of the failure, were applied by the resident directors, 
to the redemption of its liabilities, as far as they would go, having been handed over to 
those presenting claims against the bank, as fast as the claims were presented. The cir- 


GEAUGA COUNTY. 


187 


culation redeemed was very large, but no one can tell the amount. The whole affair was 
as stupendous a scheme of swindling, as has ever been carried on in the country, and the 
whole resting upon the credit of two banks in New York, organized under the free bank¬ 
ing law of that state, with stocks, which were probably borrowed of the states of Indiana 
and Illinois. 

Gen. Edward W. Tupper, in July, 1812 , raised for a six months’ 
duty, a force of 1000 men, principally from this, Lawrence and 
Jackson counties. Daniel Womeldorf, of this county, commanded 
a company of cavalry. They marched to the northwest, and had a 
skirmish with the enemy at the foot of the Maumee rapids, with un¬ 
important results. Gen. Tupper resided in Gallipolis, and died 
many years since. Capt. Womeldorf, is living in the county. 

The following are the names of small villages in this county, with 
their population, in 1840 . Patriot 119 , Wilkesville 119 , Centerville 
84 , Porter 75 , and Vinton 82 . (See Addenda.) 


GEAUGA. 

Geauga was formed from Trumbull, in 1805 , since which its orig¬ 
inal limits have been much reduced. In March, 1840 , the county of 
Lake was mainly formed from its northern part. The name Geauga, 
or Sheauga, signifies, in the Indian language, raccoon: it was 
originally applied to Grand river; thus, “ Sheauga sepe,” i. e. Rac¬ 
coon river. The surface is rolling and heavily timbered, and the 
soil generally clay. The principal exports are sheep, cattle, butter 
and cheese. The following is a list of its townships, in 1840 , with 
their population. 


Auburn, 

1198 

Claridon, 

879 

Newburgh, 

1209 

Bainbridge, 

988 

Hampden, 

Hurtsburgh, 

840 

Parkman, 

1181 

Batavia, 

771 

911 

Russell, 

742 

Burton, 

1022 

Montville, 

567 

Thompson, 

1038 

Chardon, 

1910 

Munson, 

1263 

Troy, 

1208 

Chester, 

962 





The population of Geauga, in 1820 , was 7791 ; in 1830 , 15 , 813 , 
and in 1840 , 16 , 299 , or 42 inhabitants to a square mile. 

This county being at the head waters of Chagrin, Cuyahoga and 
part of Grand rivers, is high ground, and more subject to deep snows 
than any other part of the Reserve. It was formerly much subject 
to very high sweeping winds or tornadoes. In August, 1804 , John 
Miner was killed at Chester. He had lately moved from Burton, 
with part of his family, into a log house which he had built at that 
place. A furious storm suddenly arose, and the timber commenced 
falling on all sides, when he directed his two children to go under 
the floor, and stepped to the door to see the falling timber: at that 
instant, three trees fell across the house and killed him instantly. 
The children remained in the house until the next morning, when 



188 


GEAUGA COUNTY. 


the oldest made her way to a neighbor, about two miles distant, and 
related the sad tidings.* 

The first settlement in Geauga, was at Burton, in the year 1798, 
when three families settled there from Connecticut. This settlement 
was in the interior of the country, at a considerable distance from any 
other. The hardships and privations of the early settlers of the 
Reserve, are well described in the annexed article from the pen of 
one who was familiar with them. 

The settlement of the Reserve commenced in a manner somewhat peculiar. Instead of 
beginning on one side of a county, and progressing gradually into the interior, as had 
usually been done in similar cases, the proprietors of the Reserve, being governed by dif¬ 
ferent and separate views, began their improvements wherever their individual interests led 
them. Hence we find many of the first settlers immured in a dense forest, 15 or 20 miles 
or more from the abode of any white inhabitants. In consequence of their scattered situ¬ 
ation, journeys were some times to be performed of 20 or 50 miles, for the sole purpose of 
having the staple of an ox-yoke mended, or some other mechanical job, in itself trifling, 
but absolutely essential for the successful prosecution of business. These journeys had to 
be performed through the wilderness, at a great expense of time, and, in many cases, the 
only safe guide to direct their course, were the township lines made by the surveyors. 

The want of mills to grind the first harvests, was in itself a great evil. Prior to the 
year 1800, many families used a small hand-mill, properly called a sweat-mill, which took 
the hard labor of two hours to supply flour enough for one person a single day. About the 
year 1800, one or two grist-mills, operating by water power, were erected. One of these 
was at Newburg, now in Cuyahoga county. But the distance of many of the settlements 
from the mills, and the want of roads, often rendered the expense of grinding a single 
bushel, equal the value of two or three. 

The difficulties of procuring subsistence for a family, in such circumstances, must be ob¬ 
vious. Few, however, can now fully realize circumstances then very common. Often 
would a man leave his family in the wilderness with a stinted supply of food, and with his 
team or pack horse go perhaps some 20 or 30 miles for provision. The necessary appen¬ 
dages of his journey would be an axe, a pocket compass, fire works, and blanket and bells. 
He cut and beat his way through the woods with his axe, and forded almost impassable 
streams. When the day was spent, he stopped where he was, fastened his bells to his beasts, 
and set them at liberty to provide for themselves. Then he would strike a fire, not only 
to dissipate, in some degree, the gloom and damps of night, but to annoy the gnats and 
musketoes, and prevent the approach of wolves, bears and panthers. Thus the night 
passed, with the trees for his shelter. At early dawn, or perhaps long before, he is listen¬ 
ing to catch the sound of bells, to him sweet music, for often many hours of tedious wan¬ 
derings were consumed, ere he could find his team and resume his journey. If prospered, 
on reaching his place of destination, in obtaining his expected supply, he follows his lonely 
way back to his anxious and secluded family, and perhaps has scarce time to refresh and 
rest himself, ere the same journey and errand had to be repeated. 

Chardon is 170 miles ne. of Columbus, and 28 from Cleveland. 
It was laid out about the year 1808, for the county seat, and named 
from Peter Chardon Brookes, of Boston, then proprietor of the soil. 
There are but few villages in Ohio, that stand upon such an elevated, 
commanding ridge as this, and it can be seen in some directions for 
several miles: although but about 14 miles from Lake Erie, it is 
computed to be 600 feet above it. The village is scattered and 
small. In the center is a handsome green, of about eleven acres, 
on which stands the public buildings, two of which, the court house 
and Methodist church, are shown in the engraving. The Baptist 
church and a classical academy, which are on or face the public 


* Judge Amzi Atwater. 





GEAUGA COUNTY. 


189 


square, are not shown in this view. Chardon has 6 stores, a news¬ 
paper printing office, and in 1840, had 446 inhabitants. 

Geauga suffered much from the “great drouth* in northern Ohio, 



View in Chardon. 


in the summer of 1845, the following brief description of which was 
communicated to Dr. S. P. Hildreth, by Seabury Ford, Esq., of 
Geauga, and published in Silliman’s Journal. 

The district of country which suffered the most, was about one hundred miles in length, 
and fifty or sixty in width, extending nearly east and west parallel with the lake, and in 
some places directly bordering on the shore of this great inland sea. There was no rain 
from the last of March, or the 1st of April, until the 10th of June, when there fell a little 
rain for one day, but no more until the 2d of July, when there probably fell half an inch, as 
it made the roads a little muddy. From this time, no more rain fell until early in Septem¬ 
ber. This long-continued drouth reduced the streams of water to mere rills, and many 
springs and wells heretofore unfailing became dry, or nearly so. The grass crop entirely 
failed, and through several counties the pasture grounds in places were so dry, that in 
walking across them the dust would rise under the feet, as in highways. So dry was the 
grass in meadows, that fires, when accidentally kindled, would run over them as over a 
stubble-field, and great caution was required to prevent damage from them. The crop of 
oats and corn was nearly destroyed. Many fields of wheat so perished that no attempt was 
made to harvest them. Scions set in the nursery, dried up for lack of sap in the stocks, 
and many of the forest trees withered, and all shed their leaves much earlier than usual. 
The health of the inhabitants was not materially affected, although much sickness was 
anticipated. Grasshoppers were multiplied exceedingly in many places, and destroyed 
every green thing that the drouth had spared, even to the thistles and elder tops by the 
road side. 

The late frosts and cold drying winds of the spring months, cut off nearly all the fruit, 
and what few apples remained, were defective at the core, and decayed soon after being 
gathered in the fall. Many of the farmers sowed fields of turnips in August and Septem¬ 
ber, hoping to raise winter food for their cattle, but the seed generally failed to vegetate 
for lack of moisture. So great was the scarcity of food for the domestic animals, that 
early in the autumn large droves of cattle were sent into the valley of the Scioto, where 
the crops were more abundant, to pass the winter, while others were sent eastward into 
the borders of Pennsylvania. This region of country abounds in grasses, and one of the 
staple commodities is the produce of the dairy. Many stocks of dairy cows were broken 
up and dispersed, selling for only four or five dollars a head, as the cost of wintering would 
be more than their worth in the spring. Such great losses and suffering from the effects of 
drouth, has not been experienced in Ohio for many years, if at all since the settlement of 
the country. As the lands become more completely cleared of the forest trees, dry sum¬ 
mers will doubtless be more frequent. In a region so near a large body of water, we 








































190 


GREENE COUNTY. 


should expect more rain than in one at a distance. The sky in that district is, nevertheless, 
much oftener covered with clouds than in the southern portion of the state, where rains are 
more abundant; but the dividing ridge, or height of land between Lake Erie and the 
waters of the Ohio, lacks a range of high hills to attract the moisture from the clouds and 
cause it to descend in showers of rain. 

Burton, a pleasant village, 8 miles se. of Chardon, contains 1 Pres¬ 
byterian, 1 Methodist and 1 Disciples church, an academy, and 
about 175 inhabitants. Parkman, on a branch of Grand river, and 
named from Robert B. Parkman, is 16 miles se. of Chardon, and 
contains an academy, 1 Methodist and 1 Universalist church, 1 flour¬ 
ing, 1 saw and 1 fulling mill, and about 30 dwellings. Three dams 
are thrown across the river at this place, having unitedly about 60 
feet fall, and furnishing much power. There are other small places 
in the county, at which are post-offices: they are Auburn, Bundys- 
burg, East Claridon, Fowler’s Mill, Hamden, Huntsburg, Newburg, 
Thompson, Welshfield and Chester Cross Roads. At Chester, is 
the Geauga seminary, under the patronage of the Western Reserve 
Free-Will Baptist society. This flourishing institution has about 
200 pupils, Elder Daniel Branch, A. M., principal. 


GREENE. 

Greene was formed from Hamilton and Ross, May 1st, 1803, and 
named from Gen. Nathaniel Greene, of the revolution. The soil is 
generally clayey; the surface on the east is flat and well adapted to 
grazing, the rest of the county is rolling and productive in wheat 
and corn. Considerable water power is furnished by the streams. 
There are some fine limestone quarries, and near Xenia, on Caesar’s 
creek, is a quarry of beautifully variegated marble. The principal 
productions are wheat, corn, rye, grass, grass seed, oats, barley, 
sheep and swine. The following is a list of the townships, in 1840, 
with their population. 

Bath, 1717 Miami, 1230 Sugar Creek, 2379 

Beaver Creek, 1762 Ross, 1310 Xenia, 5190 

Cassar’s Creek, 1730 Silver Creek, 2435 

The population of Greene, in 1820, was 10,509 : in 1830, 15,122 ; 
and in 1840, 17,753, or 43 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The Shawnee town, “ Old Chillicolhe” was on the Little Miami, 
in this county, about 3 miles north of the site of Xenia: it was a 
place of note, and is frequently mentioned in the annals of the early 
explorations and settlements of the west. 

In the year 1773, Capt. Thomas Bullit, of Virginia, one of the 
first settlers of Kentucky, was proceeding down the Ohio river, 
with a party, to make surveys and a settlement there, when he 
stopped and left his companions on the river, and passed through the 
wilderness to Old Chillicolhe, to obtain the consent of the Indians 
to his intended settlement. He entered the town alone, with a flag 
of truce, before he was discovered. The Indians, astonished at his 



GREENE COUNTY, 


191 


boldness flocked around him, when the following dialogue ensued 
between him and a principal chief. 

Indian Chief. What news do you bring 1 are you from the Long Knife 1 If you are 
an ambassador, why did you not send a runner ? 

Bullit. I have no bad news. The Long Knife and the Red men are at peace, and I 
have come among my brothers to have a friendly talk with them about settling on the other 
side of the Ohio. 

Indian Chief. Why did you not send a runner 1 

Bullit. I had no runner swifter than myself, and as I was in haste, I could not wait the 
return of a runner. * If you were hungry and had killed a deer, would you send your squaw 
to town to tell the news, and wait her return before you would eat 1 

This reply of Bullit put the bystanders in high humor; they relaxed from their native 
gravity and laughed heartily. The Indians conducted Bullit into the principal wigwam of 
the town, and regaled him with venison, after which, he addressed the chief as follows: 

Brothers :—I am sent with my people, whom I left on the Ohio, to settle the country on 
the other side of that river, as low down as the falls. We came from Virginia. I only 
want the country to settle and to cultivate the soil. There will be no objection to your 
hunting and trapping in it, as heretofore. I hope you will live with us in friendship. 

To this address, the principal chief made the following reply. 

Brother :—You have come a hard journey through the woods and the grass. We are 
pleased to find that your people in settling our country, are not to disturb us in our hunt¬ 
ing ; for we must hunt to kill meat for our women and children, and to have some¬ 
thing to buy powder and lead, and procure blankets and other necessaries. We desire 
you will be strong in discharging your promises towards us, as we are determined to be 
strong in advising our young men to be kind, friendly and peaceable towards you. Hav¬ 
ing finished his mission, Capt. Bullit returned to his men, and with them descended the 
river to the falls.* 

Some of this party of Bullit’s shortly after laid out the town of Louisville, Kentucky. 

The celebrated Daniel Boone was taken prisoner, with 27 others, 
in Kentucky, in February, 1778, in the war of the revolution, and 
brought to Old Chillicothe. Through the influence of the British 
Governor, Hamilton, Boone, with 10 others, was taken from thence 
to Detroit. 

The governor took an especial fancy to Boone, and offered considerable sums for his re¬ 
lease, but to no purpose, for the Indians also had taken their fancy, and so great was it that 
they took him back to Old Chillicothe, adopted him into a family, and fondly caressed him. 
He mingled with their sports, shot, fished, hunted and swam with them, and had become 
deeply ingratiated in their favor, when on the 1st of June, they took him to assist them 
in making salt in the Scioto valley, at the old salt wells, near, or at, we believe, the present 
town of Jackson, Jackson county. They remained a few days, and when returned to Old 
Chillicothe, his heart was agonized by the sight of 450 warriors, armed, painted and 
equipped in all the paraphanalia of savage splendor, ready to start on an expedition against 
Boonesborough. To avert the cruel blow that was about to fall upon his friends, he alone, 
on the morning of the 16th of June, escaped from his Indian companions, and arrived in 
time to foil the plans of the enemy, and not only saved the borough, which he himself had 
founded, but probably all the frontier parts of Kentucky, from devastation. 

Boone told an aged pioneer, yet living* that when taken prisoner on this occasion, the 
Indians got out of food, and after having killed and eaten their dogs, were ten days with¬ 
out any other sustenance than that of a decoction made from the oozings of the inner-bark 
of the while oak, which after drinking, Boone could travel with the best of them. At 
length, the Indians shot a deer, and boiled its entrails to a jelly, of which they all drank, 
and it soon acted freely on their bowels. They gave some to Boone, but his stomach re¬ 
fused it. After repeated efforts, they forced him to swallow about half a pint, which he 
did with wry faces and disagreeable retchings, much to the amusement of the simple sav¬ 
ages who laughed heartily. After this medicine had well operated, the Indians told Boone 
that he might eat; but that if he had done so before, it would have killed him. They 
then all fell to, and soon made amends for their long fast. At Detroit, he astonished the 
governor by making gun-powder, he having been shut up in a room with all the materials. 


* Notes on Kentucky. 


t Joseph Wood, Esq., of Marietta. 



192 


GREENE COUNTY. 


Another early pioneer,* who knew Boone well, says in a commu¬ 
nication to us: 

It is now (1847) 54 years since I first saw Daniel Boone. He was then about 60 years 
old, of a medium size, say 5 feet 10 inches, not given to corpulency, retired, unobtrusive, 
and a man of few words. My acquaintance was made with him in the winter season, and 
well remember his dress was of tow cloth, and not a woollen garment on his body, unless his 
stockings were of that material. Home-made was the common wear of the people of Ken¬ 
tucky, at that time: sheep were not yet introduced into the country. I slept four nights in 
the house of one West, with Boone: there were a number of strangers, and he was constantly 
occupied in answering questions. He had nothing remarkable in his personal appearance. 
His son, Capt. N. Boone, now an old man, is serving in the 1st regiment United States 
Dragoons. 

In July, 1779, the year after Boone escaped from Old Chillicothe, 
Colonel John Bowman, with 160 Kentuckians, marched against the 
town. The narrative of this expedition is derived from the “ Notes 
on Kentucky.” 

The party rendezvoused at the mouth of the Licking, and at the end of the second night 
got in sight of the town undiscovered. It was determined to await until daylight in the 
morning before they would make the attack ; but by the imprudence of some of the men, 
whose curiosity exceeded their judgment, the party was discovered by the Indians before 
the officers and men had arrived at the several positions assigned them. As soon as the 
alarm was given, a fire commenced on both sides, and was kept up, while the women and 
children were seen running from cabin to cabin, in the greatest confusion, and collecting in 
the most central and strongest. At clear day-light, it was discovered that Bowman’s men 
were from seventy to one hundred yards from the cabins, in which the Indians had col¬ 
lected, and which they appeared determined to defend. Having no other arms than tom¬ 
ahawks and rifles, it was thought imprudent to attempt to storm strong cabins, well de¬ 
fended by expert warriors. In consequence of the warriors collecting in a few cabins con¬ 
tiguous to each other, the remainder of the town was left unprotected, therefore, while a 
fire was kept up at the port holes, which engaged the attention of those within, fire was 
set to 30 or 40 cabins, which were consumed, and a considerable quantity of property, con¬ 
sisting of kettles and blankets, were taken from those cabins. In searching the woods 
near the town, 133 horses were collected. 

About 10 o’clock, Bowman and his party commenced their march homeward, after hav¬ 
ing nine men killed. What loss the Indians sustained, was never known, except Black- 
fish, their principal chief, who was wounded through the knee and died of the wound.t 
After receiving the wound, Blackfish proposed to surrender, being confident that his wound 
was dangerous, and believing that there were among the white people surgeons that could 
cure him, but that none among his own people could do it. 

The party had not marched more than eight or ten miles on their return home, before the 
Indians appeared in considerable force on their rear, and began to press hard upon that 
quarter. Bowman selected his ground, and formed his men in a square ; but the Indians 
declined a close engagement, only keeping up a scattering fire, it was soon discovered that 
their object was to retard their march until they could procure reinforcements from the 
neighboring villages. 

As soon as a strong position was taken by Col. Bowman, the Indians retired, and he re¬ 
sumed the line of march, when he was again attacked in the rear. He again formed for 
battle, and again the Indians retired, and the scene was acted over several times. At 
length, John Bulger, James Harrod and George Michael Bedinger, with about 100 more 
mounted on horseback, rushed on the Indian ranks and dispersed them in every direction. 
After which the Indians abandoned the pursuit. Bowman crossed the Ohio at the mouth 
of the Little Miami, and after crosssing, the men dispersed to their several homes. 

In the summer after this expedition, Gen. Clark invaded the In- 


* Col. John Johnston. 

t This is an error. A late publication gives evidence that he was killed in an excur¬ 
sion into Kentucky, by a white woman.—H. H. 




GREENE COUNTY. 


193 


dian country. On his approach, the Indians reduced Old Chillicothe 
to ashes. See page 85. 

The article relating to early times in Greene county, is slightly 
abridged from a communication by Thomas C. Wright, Esq., the 
county auditor. 



First Court House in Greene. 


After Abdolonymus had been taken from his hnmble station in life, and made king of 
Sidonea, it is said he kept a pair of wooden shoes near his throne, to remind him of his for¬ 
mer obscurity, and check the pride which power is so apt to engender in the heart of man. 
The above drawing is deemed worthy of preservation, not only as a memento of early 
times, and serving as a contrast to the present advanced state of improvement, but on ac¬ 
count of the historical associations it raises in the memory of the first judicial proceedings 
and organization of Greene county. 

The house, of which the engraving is a correct representation, is yet standing, 5^ miles 
west of Xenia, near the Dayton road. It was built by Gen. Benj. Whiteman, a short dis¬ 
tance south of the log cabin mill of Owen Davis, on Beaver creek. This mill, the first 
erected in Greene, was finished in 1798. A short distance east, were erected two block¬ 
houses, and it was intended, should danger render it necessary, to connect them by a line 
of pickets, and include the mill within the stockade. This mill was used by the settlers of 
“ the Dutch Station,” some 30 miles distant, in the center of Miami county. 

On the 10th of May, 1803, the first court for organizing Greene county, was held in this 
house, then the residence of Peter Borders. Wm. Maxwell, Benj. Whiteman and James 
Barret were the associate judges, and John Paul, clerk. The first business of the court 
was to lay off the county into townships, and after transacting some other business, they 
adjourned “ until court in course,” having been in session one day. 

The first court for the trial of causes, was held in the same house, on Tuesday, Aug. 2d, 
1803, with the same associate judges, and Francis Dunlavy, presiding judge, and Daniel 
Simms, prosecuting attorney. “And there came a grand jury, to wit: Wm. J. Stewart, 
foreman, John Willson, Wm. Buckles, Abrm. Van Eaton, James Snodgrass, John Judy, 
Evan Morgan, Robt. Marshall, Alex. C. Armstrong, Joseph C. Vance, Joseph Willson, 
John Buckhannon, Martin Mendenhall and Harry Martin, who were sworn a grand jury of 
inquest, for the body of Greene county.” After receiving the charge, “ they retired out of 
courta circumstance not to be wondered at, as there was but one room in the house. 
Their place of retirement, or jury room, was a little squat-shaped pole hut, shown on the 
right of the view. 

And now, while their honors, with becoming gravity, are sitting behind a table ready for 
business, and the grand jury making solemn inquest of crimes committed, the contrast be¬ 
tween the state of the county then and at present, naturally presents itself to the mind. 
Since then, forty-four years ago—a period within the recollection of many of our citizens— 

25 








































194 


GREENE COUNTY. 


and what a change ! Then it was almost an entire wilderness—a primeval forest, planted by 
the hand of nature. The first house in Greene county was built by Daniel Willson, who is 
now living near Centerville, Montgomery county. It was raised on the 7th day of April, 
1796, about 4 miles from where Bellbrook has long since been laid out, in Sugarcreek 
township. In 1798, Thomas Tounsley settled near the falls of Massie’s creek, some 8 miles 
from Xenia. The same year, James Galloway, sen., settled on the Little Miami, 2 miles 
north of Oldtown. Isaiah and Wm. Garner Sutton erected the first house in Caesar’s creek 
township, in 1799, about 5 miles south of Xenia, near where the Bullskin road crosses 
Caesar’s creek. Caesarsville was laid out by T. Carneal, in 1800, and the first house in it 
was built the year following. It was expected to become the county seat, but was finally 
rejected in favor of Xenia. Caesarsville, at the time of this court, contained a few log 
cabins, and so scattered about, miles apart, the traveller might find one of these primitive 
dwellings sending up its smoke from, a mud and stick chimney among the giants of the 
forest, each cabin with a little patch of a corn-field, thickly dotted over with girdled trees. A 
bridle-path, or blazed trees, led the traveller from one to the other. But they were the 
abodes of contentment, simplicity of manners, whole-hearted hospitality and generosity of 
souls, which does honor to human nature and gives a charm to existence. We glance at 
the county as it now appears, teeming with population, in an advanced state of improve¬ 
ment and cultivation—farm contiguous to farm, with large barns—the hewed log-houses 
which succeeded log-cabins are mostly gone, and in their stead are commodious brick, stone 
and frame dwellings—flourishing orchards, numerous excellent mills—the whole county 
intersected with roads in every direction—a railroad running through it, connecting it with 
the Queen city, and the same connection will soon be with Lake Erie, affording a speedy 
transportation to market of the immense quantities of produce raised by the farmers. The 
change is so great that it brings to mind the wonder-working wand of Prospero, which, 
being waved over a wilderness, had transformed it into a blooming garden. But the magi¬ 
cal wand, in this case, was free, white labor, persevering industry and good management. 

But to return to the court. From a careful examination of the records and other sources 
of information, 1 cannot learn there was any business for the grand jury when they retired. 
But they were not permitted to remain idle long: the spectators in attendance promptly took 
the matter into consideration. They, doubtless, thought it a great pity to have a learned 
court and nothing for it to do: so they set to and cut out employment for their honors 
by engaging in divers hard fights at fisty-cuffs, right on the ground. So it seems our 
pioneers fought for the benefit of the court. At all events, while their honors were waiting 
to settle differences according to law, they were making up issues and settling them by 
trial “ by combat” —a process by which they avoided the much complained of “ laws delay/' 
and incurred no other damages than black eyes and bloody noses, which were regarded as 
mere trifles, of course. Among the incidents of the day, characteristic of the times, was 

this: A Mr. -, from Warren county, was in attendance. Owen Davis, the owner of 

the mill, who, by the way, was a brave Indian fighter, as well as a kind-hearted, ob¬ 
liging man, charged this Warren county man with speculating in pork, alias stealing his 
neighbor's hogs. The insult was resented—a combat took place forthwith, in which Davis 
proved victorious. He then went into court, and planting himself in front of the judges, 
he observed, addressing himself particularly to one of them, “ Well, Ben, I’ve whipped that 
d—d hog-thief—what’s the damage—what’s to pay ? and thereupon, suiting the action to 
the word, he drew out his buckskin purse, containing 8 or 10 dollars, and slammed it down 
on the table—then shaking his fist at the judge, whom he addressed, he continued, “Yes, 
Ben, and if you’d steal a hog, d—n you, I’d whip you too.” He had, doubtless, come to 
the conclusion, that, as there was a court, the luxury of fighting could not be indulged in 
gratis, and he was for paying up as he went. Seventeen witnesses were sworn and sent 
before the grand jury, and nine bills of indictment were found the same day—all for affrays 
and assaults and batteries committed after the court was organized. To these indictments 
the parties all pleaded guilty, and were fined—Davis among the rest, who was fined eight 
dollars for his share in the transactions of the day. 

The following is the first entry made on the record after the grand jury retired : “ The 
court then proceeded to examine the several candidates for the surveyor’s office, and James 
Galloway, jun., being well qualified, was appointed surveyor of said county.” On the 2d day 
of the term, Joseph C. Vance (father of ex-Gov. Vance, of Champaign county,) was appointed 
to make the necessary arrangements for establishing the seat of justice, who, with David 
Huston and Joseph Willson, his securities, entered into a bond, with a penalty of 1500 dol¬ 
lars, for the faithful performance of his duties. He surveyed and laid out the town of 
Xenia (which, by the way, is an old French word, signifying a new-year’s gift,) the same 
season, for at the next December term, he was allowed “’$49.25 for laying off the town of 



GREENE COUNTY. 


195 


Xenia, finding chainraen, making plots and selling lots.” On the 3d da}' of the term, 
Daniel Symmes was allowed twenty dollars for prosecuting in behalf of the state. The pre¬ 
siding judge then left the court, but it was continued by the associate judges for the trans¬ 
action of county business. In addition to the duties now pertaining to associate judges, 
they discharged the duties now performed by the board of county commissioners. Archi¬ 
bald Lowry and Griffith Foos, were each licensed to keep a tavern in the town of Spring- 
field, on the payment of eight dollars for each license. A license was also granted to Peter 
Borders to keep a tavern at his house, on the payment of four dollars, “ together with all 
legal fees.” So our old log-house has the honor of having the first learned court held within 
its rough walls ; and, in addition to that, it was, in fact, the first hotel ever licensed in the 
county in which hog and hommony, and new corn whiskey could be had in abundance. Per¬ 
haps the court was a little interested in granting the license. Like old Jack Fallstaff, they 
might like “ to take their own ease in their own inn.” James Galloway, sen., was ap¬ 
pointed county treasurer. The court then adjourned, having been in session three days. 

Napoleon said, it was “ but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.” Old Faneuil 
Hall has the proud boast of being the cradle of liberty; and it may be claimed for our old 
cabin, that it is the cradle of Greene county—in which it was organized—in which was had 
the first judicial proceedings—whose walls first resounded with the eloquence of those long- 
robed gentlemen, of whom Martial has satirically said,“ Iras et verba locant” 

On the 19th day of the same month, (August,) the associate judges held another court 
for the transaction of county business. They continued to meet and adjourn from day to 
day, waiting for the lister of taxable property to return his book, until the 22d, when they 
made an order, that 50 cents should be paid for each wolf killed within the bounds of the 
county, and “ that the largest block-house should be appropriated to the use of a jailand 
Benjamin Whiteman, Esq., was appointed, in behalf of the county, to contract for repairing 
it—a decisive mark of civilization—and that the rights of me urn and tuum were hereafter 
to be observed and enforced. Among the allowances, at this term, there was one of b dol¬ 
lars to Joseph C. Vance, for carrying the election returns of Sugar creek township to Cin¬ 
cinnati ; and a like sum to David Huston, for returning the poll-book of Beaver creek. 
He afterwards held the office of associate judge 21 years, and twice represented Greene 
county in the state legislature. He lived the life of an honest man—was beloved and re¬ 
spected by all who knew him. He died in 1843. The clerk and sheriff were allowed 20 
dollars each for ex-officio fees, and Jacob Shingledecker, 9 dollars and 50 cents, for pre¬ 
paring the block-house to serve as a jail—a great perversion from the original design of the 
building, as it was intended, at first, to keep unwelcome visitors out, and ended in keeping 
unwilling visitors in. It was ordered by the court, that the inhabitants of Mad River town¬ 
ship should be exempted from the payment of taxes, or rather, their taxes were reduced two 
cents on each horse and one cent on each cow. The reason assigned for this favor, was 
“ for erecting public buildings As we have seen no public buildings yet but the two 
block-houses, and the one which figures at the head of this communication, the reader 
would, doubtless, be much surprised that the erection of these should be deemed sufficiently 
meritorious as, in part, to exempt the inhabitants from the payment of taxes. But these 
public buildings were situated in Cincinnati. We apprehend that but few of our citizens 
are aware of the fact, that the first settlers in this county contributed to the erection of 
public buildings in Cincinnati—the old stone court-house, we suppose, which was burnt 
down while used as barracks in time of the last war, and the hewed log jail which stood 
on the north side of the public square. 

The first supreme court was held in the same house, on the 25th day of October, 1803, 
by their honors Samuel Huntingdon and Win. Spriggs, judges ; William Maxwell, sheriff, 
John Paul, clerk, and Arthur St. Clair, Esq., of Cincinnati, prosecuting attorney. Richard 
Thomas was admitted an attorney and counsellor at law. Nothing more was done, and 
the court adjourned the same day. 

At the November term of the court of common pleas, the first thing was to arraign 
Thomas Davis, a justice of the peace, for misconduct in office. He pleaded guilty, was 
fined one dollar, and ordered, in the language of the record, “ to stand committed until 
performance .” But what the misconduct was for which he was fined, the record sayeth 
not; neither is it known whether he raised the dollar, or was made familiar with the inside 
of the block-house. On the first day of this term, the Rev. Robert Armstrong received a 
license to solemnize the rites of matrimony. He and the Rev. Andrew Fulton were sent, 
by the general associate synod of Scotland, as missionaries to Kentucky, and arrived at 
Maysville in 1798 ; but, not liking the institution of slavery, Mr. Fulton went to the neigh¬ 
borhood where South Hanover now is, Indiana, and Mr. Armstrong came to Greene county, 
Ohio. This was the commencement of the Seceder denomination in this county. From 


196 


GREENE COUNTY. 


this small beginning, it has become the most numerous, perhaps, of any other in the county. 
They form a large portion of an orderly, law-abiding and industrious population—strict in 
observing the Sabbath and in the discharge of their religious duties, and correct in moral 
conduct. They are mostly farmers, in independent circumstances. Mr. Armstrong was a 
small man, of vast learning, with the simplicity, in some things, of a child. An anecdote 
is told of his being at a log-rolling, assisting to carry a log, and having but a few inches of 
handspike, the weight of it rested mostly on him. The person with whom he was lifting, 
seeing his situation, said, “ stop, Mr. Armstrong—let me give you more handspike.” 
“ No,” said the rev. gentleman, “ no more stick for me ; I have already as much as I can 
carry.” He was universally esteemed and respected. He died in 1818. He brought a 
very large library of books with him, and was very liberal in lending them. To this cir¬ 
cumstance, perhaps, may be attributed the fact, that more books have been sold and read 
in this county than in any other of the same population in the state. 

At this term, in the case of Wm. Orr vs. Peter Borders, leave was given to amend the 
declaration, on payment of costs—an indication that some attention began to be paid to 
special pleading. The first civil case that was tried by a jury, was that of Wallingsford 
vs. Vandolah. A verdict was rendered for the plaintiff of 24 cents, upon which “ he paid 
the jury and constables fees.” 

At the December term of the common pleas, four cases of assault and battery were tried 
by jury, which took up the first day. The day following, this entry was made: William 
Chipman vs. Henry Storm, “judgment confessed for one cent damages and costs.” But 
such is the imperfect manner in which the records were kept, that it is impossible to ascertain 
what the subject matter of the controversy was in which such heavy damages were admit¬ 
ted. The court decided, that the fee paid to the states’ attorney, at the August term, was 
illegal, and should be refunded. This was the result of “ the sober second thoughts” of the 
court about that twenty dollar fee, for which the attorney came from Cincinnati, more than 
50 miles, through the woods, and drew nine bills of indictment and attended to the cases. 
At this term, Andrew Read, an early settler near where the beautiful village of Fairfield 
now is, took his seat on the bench as associate judge, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the 
election of William Maxwell to the office of sheriff. The first view and survey of a new 
road route was granted at this term. It was to commence at Springfield, pass the Yellow 
spring and intersect the Pinkney road near Isaac Morgan’s. Wm. Maxwell, Lewis Davis, 
and Thomas Tounsley were appointed viewers, and James Galloway, jun., surveyor. So 
our fellow-citizen, Maj. Galloway, was the first county surveyor, surveyed the first road by 
order of the court, and afterwards made a map of the county, in its present metes and 
bounds, showing all the surveys and sections of the land, with their divisions and subdi¬ 
visions into tracts. Tavern licenses were granted to Thomas Fream, William Moore, and 
James M’Pherson, to keep taverns in their houses for one year, and so ended the term. 

The June term of 1804, was the last court ever held in the old log house. It was com¬ 
posed of the same judges, clerk and sheriff, with Arthur St. Clair, Esq., of Cincinnati, 
prosecuting attorney. The writer of this has been informed, he wore a cocked hat and a 
sword. William M’Farland was foreman of the grand jury. A singular incident took 
place at the opening of this court. There was a shelf in one corner, consisting of a board 
on two pins inserted in the wall, containing a few books, among which counsellor St. Clair 
searched for a bible, on which to swear the jury. At length he took down a volume, and 
observed, with his peculiar lisp, “ Well, gentlemen, here is a book which looks thist like 

a testament.” The foreman of the grand jury was accordingly sworn upon it_but the 

book, which so much resembled a testament in external appearance, turned out, in fact, to 
be an odd volume of The Arabian Nights Entertainment!! From this mistake, or some 
unknown cause, the practice of swearing on the Evangelists, has gone entirely out of use 
in this county, being substituted by swearing with the uplifted hand, or affirming. The 
grand jury found several bills of indictment, and were discharged the same day. 

In proportion as cases of assault and battery begin to decrease, a sprinkling of civil suits 
make their appearance on the docket. Fourteen cases were called the first day, and all 
continued, except one, in which judgment was confessed, and stay of execution granted 
until next term. The entry of continuance was in this form: A. B. vs. C. D. E. F. and 

G. H. pledges for the defendant in the sum $-. This form was observed in all cases, 

the amount being more or less, according to the subject matter in controversy. On 
Wednesday oi this term, Joseph Tatman produced his commission as associate judge, and 
took the oath of office. He afterwards, in 1816, in company with Samuel and William 
Casad, laid out the town of Fairfield, not far from the site of an old Indian town, named 
Piqua, at which Gen. George R. Clark defeated the Indians, in 1780. On this day, 22 
cases were called: 11 contmued, 2 settled, 1 judgment, 5 ruled for plea in 40 days, one in 



GREENE COUNTY, 


197 


10 days, 1 discontinued and 1 abated by death. This was certainly a pretty fair beginning, 
and quite encouraging to the learned profession. 

The total amount of taxable property returned by the “listers,” was $393.04, and this 
levy included houses and mills, if any. As to houses, there was but one returned, and that 
was valued for taxation at one dollar ! Considering the sparseness of population, and 
small amount of property in the county, the proportion of litigation was greater then, than 
at this time, 1847, when the total amount of taxable property is $6,583,673. So much 
of a change in 43 years. They fought less and lawed more. In newly settled counties, 
there appears to be a peculiar fondness among the people for lawsuits. After a court has 
been organized in a new county, they still continue to settle their difficulties by combat, 
until fines become troublesome. The court then becomes the arena in which their conten¬ 
tions and quarrels are carried and finally disposed of. If one cannot afford the fine or im¬ 
prisonment which would be incurred, by taking personal satisfaction, he can bring a suit, 
if any cause of action can be found, and no matter how small the amount claimed, or 
frivolous the matter, if he can only cast his adversary and throw him in the costs, he is as 
much gratified as if he had made him halloa “ enough—take him off.” It is this spirit 
which gives rise to so many trifling and vexatious law suits. 

And now we take leave of our primitive dwelling house, court house and tavern. It is 
still standing, and occupied as a residence. While our drawing was being taken, an old- 
fashioned long-handled frying-pan was over the fire—its spacious bottom well paved with 
rashers of ham, sending forth a savory odor, enough to make a hungry persons’ mouth 
water. What scenes it has witnessed—what memories it recalls. It has witnessed the 
organization of the county—the first administration of law and justice—the first exercise 
of the right of suffrage through the ballot-box, and the first legal punishment of criminals. 
Near it the first com was ground into meal for the use of the settlers, and here they rallied 
to build block-houses to protect them from the hostile attacks of the Indians. As a tavern, 
many a weary traveller, through the tall and lonely forest, has been sheltered and refreshed 
beneath its humble roof. How many buckeye lads and lasses have been reared within its 
walls—for 

“ Buirdly chiels and clever hizzies 
Are bred in sic a way as this is!” 

How many jovial dances have been had on its puncheon floor. While we may suppose 
some lame or lazy fellow seated on a stool in a comer, prepared with an awl or Barlow 
knife, to extract splinters from the heels of the dancers, as fast as the sets were over. How 
many courtships have been carried on during the long winter nights—the old folks asleep, 
and the young lovers comfortably toasting their shins over the decaying embers—happy in 
present love, and indulging in bright anticipations of housekeeping in a cabin. 

Long mayest thou stand, old relic, as a memento of pioneer life, primitive simplicity and 
good old-fashioned honesty, to remind the rising generation of the hardships and priva¬ 
tions our pioneer fathers encountered, in first settling the county, and to show by this humble 
beginning, compared with the present state of improvement, how much honest labor, 
pains-taking industry and thrifty management can accomplish. 

Xenia, the county seat, is on the Little Miami railroad, 64 miles 
north of Cincinnati, and 61 from Columbus. It is a handsome, flour¬ 
ishing and well-built town, with broad streets, and some fine stores 
and elegant dwellings. The engraving represents a part of the 
principal street: the court house, shown on the left, is the most ele¬ 
gant, as yet built, in Ohio. 

Xenia was laid off in the forest, in the autumn of 1803, by Joseph 
C. Vance, on the land of John Paul, who gave the ground bounded 
by Main, Market, Detroit and Greene streets, for the public build¬ 
ings. The first cabin was erected in April, 1804, by John Marshall, 
in the southwest corner of the town. The first good hewed log 
house was erected for the Rev. James Fowler, of the Methodist 
persuasion, from Petersburg, Va.: it is still standing, and is now the 
hatter’s shop, a short distance west of the old bank. David A. 


198 


GREENE COUNTY 


Sanders built the first frame house, on the spot occupied by the new 
hank: it is yet standing, on Main street, in Gowdy’s addition. 



View in Xenia. 


The first supreme court was held Oct. 3d, 1804. The grand jury 
held their deliberations under a sugar tree, in the rear of the present 
residence of James Gowdy. 

The first court of common pleas in Xenia, was on the 15th of November, 1804, and was 
held by the associate judges. A license was granted to “William A. Beatty, to keep a 
tavern in the town of Xenia for one year, on the payment of $8.00!” This was the first 
tavern ever licensed in the place. It was a double hewed log house, two stories high, and 
was in progress of erection at the same time with Fowler’s house. It stood on the south 
side of Main street, opposite the public square, on the spot where there now is a two story 
brick house, occupied as a drug store. In the west room, above stairs, the court was held. 
The first election in the place was held in this house. It continued to be a tavern until 
after the last war with Great Britain, and, until Mr. James Collier built his brick tavern on 
Detroit street, was the grand hotel of the place. In a corner of the west room, there was 
an old-fashioned bar—the upper part enclosed with upright slats of wood, with a little 
wicket, through which the grog was handed out in half pint glass cruets. In time of the 
war, the recruiting officers put up at this house ; and here might be seen the recruiting ser¬ 
geant rattling dollars on a drum's head, and calling for half pints, appealing to the patriot¬ 
ism of the bystanders, tempting them with gingling dollars, and adding thereto the potency 
of whiskey, to enlist recruits for the army. Court continued to be held in this house for 
the years 1804 and 1805, and until a new court house was built. 

In 1804, the building of the first jail was let to Amos Darough; it was received from the 
contractor in October. It stood on ground now covered by the new court house, and was 
constructed of hewed logs. It was burnt down the year following ; and in April, 1806, a 
new jail was accepted from William A. Beatty. It stood on the site of the present market 
house—was a rough log building; two stories high, with a cabin roof, and was burnt down 
in time of the war with England. The building of the first court house was let on the 8th 
day of April, 1806, to William Kendall, who was allowed six dollars for clearing the tim¬ 
ber from the public square. The house was built of brick, 40 feet square and 28 feet high, 
with a cupola in the center of the roof, 10 feet in diameter and 15 feet high. It was fin¬ 
ished, and on the 14th day of August, 1809, accepted. 

On the 6th of April. 1806, “a license was granted to James Gow r dy, for retailing mer¬ 
chandise, on his complying with the law!” He opened his goods in a log house, with a 
mud and stick chimney, which stood on Greene street, at the north end of where Mr. John 
Ewing’s store now is. He was the first merchant in the place. 

The first punishment for crime was in 1806. The person was convicted for stealing 


















































































GREENE COUNTY. 


199 


leather, to half-sole a pair of shoes. There was a sugar tree on the public square, which 
served as a whipping-post. He was tied up to the tree, and underwent the sentence of the 
court, which was to receive one stripe on his bare back, which was inflicted by Janies Col¬ 
lier. The sugar tree served as a whipping-post for the last time on the 8th of October, 
18U8. A man was convicted for stealing a shovel-plow and clevis, and the sentence was 
that he should receive eight lashes on his bare back, “ and stand committed until perform¬ 
ance.” He drank a pint of whiskey just before hugging the tree, though it did not prevent 
him from halloaing lustily, while receiving the eight stripes.* 

Xenia contains 1 German Lutheran, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 
Methodist Protestant, 1 Seceder, 1 Associate Reformed and 1 Bap¬ 
tist church, beside 2 churches for colored persons—two church 
edifices are erecting, one by the Presbyterian and the other by the 
Associate Reformed denomination— 17 mercantile stores, 1 foundery, 
2 newspaper printing offices, 1 bank, a classical academy in fine re¬ 
pute, and in 1840, had 1414 inhabitants, and in 1847, about 2800. 

Josiah Hunt resided in this county in the time of the last war with Great Britain. He 
was a stout, well-formed, heavy-set man, capable of enduring great hardships and priva¬ 
tions, and was then a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. There was a tone of 
candor and sincerity, as well as modesty, in his manner of relating the thrilling scenes in 
which he had been an actor, which left no doubt of their truth in the minds of those who 
heard him. He was one of Wayne’s legion, and was in the battle of the Fallen Timber, 
on the 20th of August, 1794. 

At the commencement of the onset, just after entering the fallen timber, Hunt was rush¬ 
ing on, and about to spring over a fallen tree, when he was fired at by an Indian, concealed 
behind it. The latter was compelled to fire in such haste that he missed his aim. It was, 
however, a close shave, for the bullet whizzed through the lock of his right temple, causing 
that ear to ring for an hour after. The Indian’s body was entirely naked from the waist 
up, with a red stripe painted up and down his back. As soon as he fired, he took to his 
heels. Hunt aimed at the center of the red stripe, the Indian running zig-zag “ like the 
worm of a fence.” When he fired the Indian bounded up and fell forward. He had 
fought his last battle. 

He was an excellent hunter. In the winter of 1793. while the army lay at Greenville, 
he was employed to supply the officers with game, and inconsequence was exempted from 
garrison duty. The sentinels had orders to permit him to leave and enter the fort when¬ 
ever he chose. The Indians made a practice of climbing trees in the vicinity of the fort, 
the better to watch the garrison. If a person was seen to go out, notice was taken of the 
direction he went, his path ambushed and his scalp secured. To avoid this danger, Hunt 
always left the fort in the darkness of night, for said he, “ when once I had got into the 
woods without their knowledge, I had as good a chance as they.” He was accustomed, 
on leaving the fort, to proceed some distance in the direction he intended to hunt the next 
day, and bivauck for the night. To keep from freezing to death, it was necessary to have 
a fire ; but to show a light in the enemy’s country, was to invite certain destruction. To 
avoid this danger he dug a hole in the ground with his tomahawk, about the size and 
depth of a hat crown. Having prepared it properly, he procured some “ roth,” meaning 
thick white oak bark, from a dead tree, which will retain a strong heat when covered with 
its ashes. Kindling a fire from flint and steel at the bottom of his “ coal pit,” as he termed 
it, the bark was severed into strips and placed in layers crosswise, until the pit was full. 
After it was sufficiently ignited, it was covered over with dirt, with the exception of two 
air holes in the margin, which could be opened or closed at pleasure. Spreading down a 
layer of bark or brush to keep him off the cold ground, he set down with the “ coal pit” be¬ 
tween his legs, enveloped himself in his blanket, and slept cat-dozes in an upright posi¬ 
tion. If his fire became too much smothered, he would freshen it up by blowing into one 
of the air holes. He declared he could make himself sweat whenever he chose. The 
snapping of a dry twig was sufficient to awaken him, when uncovering his head, he keenly 
scrutinized in the darkness and gloom around—his right hand on his trusty rifle “ ready 
for the mischance of the hour.” A person now, in full security from danger, enjoying the 
comforts and refinements of civilized life, can scarcely bring his mind to realize his situa¬ 
tion, or do justice to the powers of bodily endurance, firmness of nerve, self-reliance and 


* From Thomas Coke Wright. 



200 


GREENE COUNTY. 


courage, manifested by him that winter. A lone man in a dreary interminable forest, 
swarming with enemies, blood-thirsty, crafty and of horrid barbarity, without a friend or 
human being to afford him the least aid, in the depth of winter, the freezing winds moan¬ 
ing through the bare and leafless branches of the tall trees, while the dismal howling of a 
pack of wolves— 

“ Cruel as death, and hungry as the grave ; 

Burning for blood, bony, gaunt and grim,” 

might be heard in the distance, mingled with the howlings of the wintry winds, were well 
calculated to create a lonely sensation about the heart and appal any common spirit. 
There would he set, nodding in his blanket, undistinguishable in the darkness from an 
old stump, enduring the rigor of winter, keeping himself from freezing, yet showing no 
fire,—calm, ready and prompt to engage in mortal combat, with whatever enemy might 
assail, whether Indian, bear or panther. At day-light he commenced hunting, proceeding 
slowly and with extreme caution, looking for game and watching for Indians at the same 
time. When he found a deer, previously to shooting it, he put a bullet in his mouth, ready 
for reloading his gun with all possible dispatch, which he did before moving from the spot, 
casting searching glances in every direction for Indians. Cautiously approaching the deer, 
after he had shot it, he dragged it to a tree and commenced the process of skinning with 
his back towards the tree, and his rifle leaning against it, in reach of his right hand. And 
so with his rear protected by the tree, he would skin a short time, then straighten up and 
scan in every direction, to see if the report of his rifle had brought an Indian in his vicin¬ 
ity, then apply himself to skinning again. If he heard a stick break, or any—the slightest 
noise indicating the proximity of animal life, he clutched his rifle instantly, and was on the 
alert prepared for any emergency. Having skinned and cut up the animal, the four-quar¬ 
ters were packed in the hide, which was so arranged as to be slung to his back like a knap¬ 
sack, with which he wended his way to the fort. If the deer was killed far from the gar¬ 
rison, he only brought in the fore-quarters. One day he got within gun-shot of three In¬ 
dians unperceived by them. He was on a i*idge and they in a hollow. He took aim at 
the foremost one, and waited some time for a chance for two to range against each other, 
intending, if they get in that position, to shoot two and take his chnace with the other in 
single combat. But they continued marching in Indian file, and though he could have 
killed either of them, the other two would have made the odds against too great, so he let 
them pass unmolested. Amidst all the danger to which he was constantly exposed, he 
passed unharmed. 

Owing to the constant and powerful exercise of the faculties, his ability to hear and dis¬ 
criminate sounds was wonderfully increased, and the perceptive faculties much enlarged. 
He made $70 that winter by hunting, over and above his pay as a soldier. 

At the treaty at Greenville, in 1795, the Indians seemed to consider Hunt as the next 
greatest man to Wayne himself. They inquired for him, got round him, and were loud and 
earnest in their praises and compliments: “ Great man, Capt. Hunt—great warrior—good 
hunting man ; Indian no can kill!” They informed him that some of their bravest and 
most cunning warriors, had often set out expressly to kill him. They knew how he made 
his secret camp-fires, the ingenuity of which excited their admiration. The parties in quest 
of him had often seen him—could describe the dress he wore, and his cap, which was made 
of a raccoon’s skin with the tail hanging down behind, the front turned up and ornamented 
with three brass rings. The scalp of such a great hunter and warrior they considered to 
be an invaluable trophy. Yet they never could catch him off his guard—never get within 
shooting distance, without being discovered and exposed to his death-dealing rifle. 

Many years ago he went to Indiana, nor has the writer* of this ever heard from him 
since, nor is it known among his old friends here, whether he is living. 

Nine miles north of Xenia, on the Little Miami river and railroad, 
are the Yellow Springs. It has been fitted up as a place of fashion¬ 
able resort. The improvements, consisting of a hotel and numer¬ 
ous cottages, are in a picturesque situation. “ The springs are 
strongly impregnated with sulphur and possess medicinal qualities, 
deemed equal in utility to any in the United States.” The Duke of 
Saxe Weimer says in his Travels: 

The spring originates in a limestone rock, the water has a little taste of iron, and de- 


* Thomas Coke Wright. 




GBEENE COUNTY. 


201 


posites a great quantity of ochre, from which it takes its name. The spring is said to give 
110 gallons of water per minute, which is received in a basin surrounded with cedar trees. 
The yellow stream which comes from the basin, runs a short distance over a bed of lime¬ 
stone and is afterwards precipitated into the valley. These limestone rocks form very sin¬ 
gular figures on the edge of this valley; the detached pieces resemble the Devil’s Wall of 
the Hartz. 

Clifton is a flourishing manufacturing village, 10 miles north of 
Xenia, on the Little Miami, and contains 2 churches, 3 stores, 1 cot¬ 
ton and woollen factory, 1 paper, 1 grist and 1 saw mill, and over 300 
inhabitants. The name originated from the cliffs which bound the 

river at this place. The 
stream commences run¬ 
ning through a deep ra¬ 
vine at the eastern ex¬ 
tremity of the village, and 
after circling around the 
town, leaves it on the 
southwest. For more 
than two miles it runs 
through a deep and nar¬ 
row gorge, bounded by 
perpendicular and im¬ 
pending rocks, overhung 
by evergreens, and pre¬ 
senting scenery of a wild 
and picturesque charac¬ 
ter. In this distance the 
stream is estimated, in an 
ordinary stage of water, 
to afford sufficient power 
for one hundred and five 
pair of burr stones. The 
mills and factories above 
mentioned are upon it, and 
the woollen and cotton fac¬ 
tory is built in the ravine 
and extends completely 
across it. The view given, 
was taken a short distance 
Cascade at Clifton. below this building, and 

shows a little water-fall on the northern wall of the bounding cliffs, 
at that point about 50 feet high. 

Fairfield, 12 miles northwest of Xenia, on the Dayton and Spring- 
field turnpike, is a smart business place, in a rich country. It con¬ 
tains 4 churches, 5 stores and about 400 inhabitants. Bellbrook, 9 
southwest of Xenia, has 3 stores, 4 churches and about 350 inhabi¬ 
tants. Jamestown, 11 east of Xenia, on the Dayton, Xenia and 
Washington turnpike, has 8 stores, 3 churches and 50 dwellings. 
Spring Valley, 7 southwest of Xenia, is a small manufacturing vil¬ 
lage, at which is a woollen factory, 1 oil, 1 grist and 1 carding mill. 

26 
















202 


GUERNSEY COUNTY. 


Cedarville, on Massie’s creek, 8 miles from Xenia, has 3 stores and 
churches, and about 300 inhabitants. Burlington and Paintersville 
are small places. On Massie’s creek, 7 miles northeast of Xenia, is 
an ancient stone fort and a mound. 


GUERNSEY. 


Guernsey was organized in March, 1810. The upland is hilly 
and of various qualities, and the soil clay or clayey loam. There 
is much excellent land in the bottom of Wills’ creek and its branches, 
which cover about one third of the county. The principal crops 
are wheat, corn and tobacco. Wool is a staple product of the 
county, together with beef cattle, horses and swine. The follow¬ 
ing is a list of its townships in 1840, with their.population. 


Adams, 866 

Beaver, 1686 

Buffalo, 1025 

Cambridge, 2033 
Center, 976 

Jackson, 1155 

Jefferson, 755 


Knox, 538 

Liberty, 835 

Londonderry, 1629 
Madison, 1569 

Millwood, 1722 

Monroe, 1098 

Oxford, 2133 


Richland, 1772 
Seneca, 1356 

Spencer, , 1669 

Washington, 1008 
Westland, 1077 
Wheeling, 769 
Wills, 1887 


The population of Guernsey in 1820, was 9,292; in 1830, 18,036 ; 
and in 1840, 27,729, or 45 inhabitants to the square mile. 

Previous to the first settlement of the county, there was a party of 
whites attacked by Indians on Wills’ creek, near the site of Cam¬ 
bridge. The particulars which follow are from the pen of Col. John 
M’Donald, author of the Biographical Sketches. 


In the year 1791 or ’92, the Indians having made frequent incursions into the settlements, 
along the Ohio river, between Wheeling and the Mingo bottom, sometimes killing or cap¬ 
turing whole families; at other times stealing all the horses belonging to a station or fort, a 
company consisting of seven men, rendezvoused at a place called the Beech bottom, on the 
Ohio river, a few miles below where Wellsburg has been erected. This company were John 
Whetzel, William M’Collough, John Hough, Thomas Biggs, Joseph Hedges, Kinzie Dick¬ 
erson, and a Mr. Linn. Their avowed object was to go to the Indian towns to steal horses. 
This was then considered a legal, honorable business, as we were then at open war with 
the Indians. It would only be retaliating upon them in their own way. These seven men 
were all trained to Indian warfare, and a life in the woods from their youth. Perhaps the 
western frontier, at no time, could furnish seven men whose souls were better fitted, and 
whose nerves and sinews were better strung to perform any enterprise which required reso¬ 
lution and firmness. They crossed the Ohio, and proceeded with cautious steps, and vigi¬ 
lant glances on their way through the cheerless, dark, and almost impervious forest, in 
the Indian country, till they came to an Indian town, near where the head waters of the 
Sandusky and Muskingum rivers interlock. Here they made a fine haul, and set off home¬ 
ward with fifteen horses. They travelled rapidly, only making short halts, to let their 
horses graze, and breathe a short time to recruit their strength and activity. In the eve¬ 
ning of the second day of their rapid retreat, they arrived at Wills creek, not far from 
where the town of Cambridge has been since erected. Here Mr. Linn was taken violently 
sick, and they must stop their march, or leave him alone, to perish in the dark and lonely 
woods. Our frontier men, notwithstanding their rough and unpolished manners, had too 
much of my Uncle Toby’s “ sympathy for suffering humanity,” to forsake a comrade in dis¬ 
tress. They halted, and placed sentinels on their back trail, who remained there till late in 
the night, without seeing any signs of being pursued. The sentinels on the back trail returned 



GUERNSEY COUNTY. 


203 


to the camp, Mr. Linn still lying in excruciating pain. All the simple remedies in their 
power were administered to the sick man, without producing any effect. Being late in the 
night, they all lay down to rest, except one who was placed as guard. Their camp was on 
the bank of a small branch. Just before day-break the guard took a small bucket, and 
dipped some water out of the stream ; on carrying it to the fire he discovered the water to 
be muddy. The muddy water waked his suspicion that the enemy might be approaching 
them, and were walking down in the stream, as their footsteps would be noiseless in the 
water. He waked his companions, and communicated his suspicion. They arose, exam¬ 
ined the branch a little distance, and listened attentively for some time ; but neither saw” 
nor heard any thing, and then concluded it must have been raccoons, or some other ani¬ 
mals, puddling in the stream. After this conclusion the company all lay down to rest, ex¬ 
cept the sentinel, who was stationed just outside of the light. Happily for them the fire 
had burned down, and only a few coals afforded a dim light to point out where they lay. 
The enemy had come silently down the creek, as the sentinel suspected, to within ten or 
twelve feet of the place where they lay, and fired several guns over the bank. Mr. Linn, 
the sick man, was lying with his side towards the bank, and received nearly all the balls 
which were at first fired. The Indians then, with tremendous yells, mounted the bank 
with loaded rifles, war-clubs and tomahawks, rushed upon our men, who fled barefooted 
and without arms. Mr. Linn, Thomas Biggs and Joseph Hedges were killed in and near 
the camp. William M’Collough had run but a short distance when he was fired at by the 
enemy. At the instant the fire was given, he jumped into a quagmire and fell; the Indians 
supposing that they killed him, ran past in pursuit of others. He soon extricated himself 
out of the mire, and so made his escape. He fell in with John Hough, and came into 
Wheeling. John Whetzel and Kinzie Dickerson met in their retreat, and returned to¬ 
gether. Those who made their escape were without arms, without clothing or provision. 
Their sufferings were great; but this they bore with stoical indifference, as it was the for¬ 
tune of war. Whether the Indians who defeated our heroes followed in pursuit from their 
towns, or were a party of warriors, who accidentally happened to fall in with them, has 
never been ascertained. From the place they had stolen the horses, they had travelled two 
nights and almost two entire days, without halting, except just a few minutes at a time, to 
let the horses graze. From the circumstance of their rapid retreat with the horses, it was 
supposed that no pursuit could possibly have overtaken them, but that fate had decreed that this 
party of Indians should meet and defeat them. As soon as the stragglers arrived at Wheel¬ 
ing, Capt. John M’Collough collected a party of men, and went to Wills creek, and buried 
the unfortunate men who fell in and near the camp. The Indians had mangled the dead 
bodies at a most barbarous rate. Thus was closed the horse stealing tragedy. 

Of the four who survived this tragedy, none are now living to tell the story of their suf¬ 
fering. They continued to hunt and to fight as long as the war lasted. John Whetzel and 
Dickerson died in the country near Wheeling. John Hough died a few years since, near 
Columbia, Hamilton county, Ohio. The brave Capt. William M’Collough, fell in 1812, in 
the battle of Brownstown, in the campaign with Gen. Hull. 

Cambridge, the county seat, is on the national road, 77 miles east 
of Columbus and 24 east of Zanesville. It is a flourishing village 
and contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Seceder, 1 Methodist Episcopal and 
1 Reformed Methodist church, an academy, 9 mercantile stores, 2 
carding machines, 1 flouring and 2 fulling mills, 1 newspaper print¬ 
ing office and about 1000 inhabitants. The view represents the town 
as it appears from a hill on the west, about 300 yards north of the 
national road : the bridge across Wills creek is shown on the right, 
and the town on the hill in the distance. 

In 1798, soon after “Zane’s trace” was cut through the county, a 
Mr. Graham made the first settlement on the site of Cambridge. At 
this time, the only dwelling between Lancaster and Wheeling was 
at Zanesville. He remained about two years, and was succeeded by 
George Beymer, from Somerset, Pennsylvania. Both of these per¬ 
sons kept a house of entertainment, and a ferry for travellers on their 
way to Kentucky and other parts of the west. Mr. Beymer, in 
April, 1803, gave up his tavern to Mr. John Beatty, who moved in 


204 


GUERNSEY COUNTY. 


from Loudon county, Virginia. Mr. Wyatt Hutchinson, who, until 
recently, kept a tavern in this town, was a member of Beatty’s family, 
which consisted of eleven persons. The Indians then hunted in this 



Cambridge, from, the hill west. 


vicinity, and often encamped on the creek. In June, 1806, Cam¬ 
bridge was laid out; and on the day the lots w r ere first offered for 
sale, several families from the British isle of Guernsey, near the coast 
of France, stopped here and purchased lands. These were followed 
by other families, amounting in all to some fifteen or twenty, from 
the same island ; all of whom settling in the county, gave origin to 
its present name. Among the heads of these families, are recollect¬ 
ed the names of Wm. Ogier, Thos. Naftel, Thos. Lanphesty, James 
Bishard, Chas. and John Marquand, John Robbins, Daniel Ferbroch, 
Peter, Thomas and John Sarchet, and Daniel Hubert. 

Washington is 8 miles east of Cambridge, on the national road. 
It is a very thriving village, and does an extensive business with the 
surrounding country, which is very fertile. It has 1 Lutheran, 1 
Presbyterian, 1 Methodist, 1 Union and 1 Catholic church—the last 
of which is an elegant and costly gothic edifice ; 6 mercantile stores, 
1 woollen factory, and a population nearly equal to Cambridge. It 
was laid out about the year 1805, by Simon Beymer, proprietor of 
the soil, and a native of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. There 
were two companies raised in this county, and which entered into 
service, in the war with Great Britain—one of which was command¬ 
ed by Simon Beymer, and the other by Cyrus P. Beatty. The first 
cannel coal found in this country was discovered several years since, 
five miles west of Cambridge, near Wills creek. This bituminous 
coal does not materially differ from the common slaty coal of the 
country; it contains rather more bituminous and less carbonaceous 
matter.* 

* See communication of Hon. Benj. Tappan, in the 28th, and that of Dr. S. P. Hildreth, 
in the 29th volume of Silliman’s Journal. 

























HAMILTON COUNTY. 


205 


Middletown, 14 miles east of Cambridge, on the national road, has 
4 stores, two or three churches and about 250 inhabitants. On and 
about the Salt fork in this vicinity, there were twelve or fifteen fami¬ 
lies settled about the year 1803: the names recollected are Hite, 
Burns, Cary, Smith, Masters, Hall, Wilson and Warren. Fairview, 
6 miles east of the above, on the national road, is a larger town, 
containing several churches and stores and about 425 inhabitants. 
Senecaville, 10 miles southeast of Cambridge, is a flourishing town, 
containing several churches and stores and about 300 inhabitants. 
Cumberland, Claysville, Williamsburg, Mount Ephraim, Liberty, 
Winchester, Londonderry, Smyrna and Antrim, are places contain¬ 
ing, each, from 10 to 50 dwellings. At the last is a literary institute, 
in good repute. 


HAMILTON. 

Hamilton was the second county established in the N. W. terri¬ 
tory. It was formed Jan. 2d, 1790, by proclamation of Governor St. 
Clair, and named from Gen. Alex. Hamilton. Its original boundaries 
were thus defined : “ Beginning on the Ohio river, at the confluence 
of the Little Miami, and down the said Ohio to the mouth of the Big 
Miami; and up said Miami to the standing stone forks or branch of 
said river, and thence with a line to be drawn due east to the Little 
Miami, and down said Little Miami river to the place of beginning.” 
The surface is generally rolling, soil on the uplands, clay, and in the 
river and creek vallies, deep alluvion, with a sub-stratum of sand. 
The agricultural productions are more varied than any other county 
in the state; beside the ordinary farm products of wheat, corn, 
rye, barley, oats and grass, there is produced a great variety of 
fruits and vegetables for the Cincinnati market. Much attention has 
been given of late to the cultivation of vineyards upon the Ohio river 
hills, for the manufacture of wine, and it promises to be a business 
of great extent in the course of a few years. The following is a list 
of its townships in 1840, with their population. 


Anderson, 

2311 

Fulton, 

1505 

Storrs, 

740 

Colerain, 

2272 

Green, 

2939 

Sycamore, 

3207 

Columbia, 

3022 

Miami, 

2189 

Symmes, 

1033 

Crosby, 

1875 

Mill Creek, 6249 

Whitewater, 

1883 

Delphi, 

1466 

Springfield, 3092 

Cincinnati, (city,) 46382 


The population of Hamilton, in 1820, was 31,764, in 1830, 52,380, 
and in 1840, 80,165, or, omitting the city of Cincinnati, 79 persons to 
the square mile. 

This county was the second settled in Ohio, and the first within 
Symmes’ purchase. The history of its settlement we append from 
Burnet’s Notes. 

Soon after the settlement was commenced at Marietta, three parties were formed to oc- 



206 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


cupy and improve separate portions of Judge Symmes’ purchase, between the Miami rivers. 
The first, led by Major Benjamin Stites, consisted of eighteen or twenty, who landed in 
November, 1788, at the mouth of the Little Miami river, within the limits of a tract of ten 
thousand acres, purchased by Major Stites from Judge Symmes. They constructed a log 
fort, and laid out the town of Columbia, which soon became a promising village. Among 
them were Colonel Spencer, Major Gano, Judge Goforth, Francis Dunlavy, Major Kibbey, 
Rev. John Smith, Judge Foster, Colonel Brown, Mr. Hubbell, Captain Flinn, Jacob White 
and John Riley. 

They were all men of energy and enterprise, and were more numerous than either of 
the parties who commenced their settlements below them on the Ohio. Their village was 
also more flourishing, and for two or three years contained a larger number of inhabitants 
than any other in the Miami purchase. This superiority, however, did not continue, as 
will appear from the sequel. 

The second party destined for the Miami, was formed at Limestone, under Matthias 
Denman and Robert Patterson, amounting to twelve or fifteen in number. After much 
difficulty and danger, caused by floating ice in the river, they landed on the north bank of 
the Ohio, opposite the mouth of Licking, on the 24th of December, 1788. Their purpose 
was to establish a station, and lay out a town according to a plan agreed on, before they 
left Limestone. The name adopted for the proposed town was Losanteville, which had 
been manufactured by a pedantic foreigner, whose name, fortunately, has been forgotten. 
It was formed, as he said, from the words Le os ante ville, which he rendered “ the village 
opposite the mouth.” Logicians may decide whether the words might not be rendered 
more correctly, the mouth before the village. Be that as it may, the settlement then formed 
was immediately designated by the name adopted for the projected town—though the town 
itself never was laid out, for reasons which will be explained hereafter. Yet, from the facts 
stated, a very general belief has prevailed that the original name of the town of Cincinnati 
was Losanteville, and that through the influence of Gov. St. Clair and others, that name 
was abandoned, and the name of Cincinnati substituted. This impression, though a natural 
one, under the circumstances of the case, was nevertheless incorrect. 

It is impossible to say what influence operated on the minds of the proprietors, to induce 
them to adopt the name of Cincinnati, in preference to the one previously proposed. Judge 
Symmes, being on the spot, might have advised it; but it is not probable that Gov. St. 
Clair had agency in it, as he was at the time negotiating a treaty with the north-western 
Indians, at Marietta, between which place and Cincinnati, there was then but very little 
intercourse. The truth may be gathered from the facts of the case, which are these. 

Matthias Denman, of Springfield, New Jersey, had purchased the fraction of land on 
the bank of the Ohio, and the entire section adjoining it on the north, which, on the survey 
of Symmes’ grant should be found to lie opposite the mouth of Licking river. In the 
summer of 1788, he came out to the west to see the lands he had purchased, and to ex¬ 
amine the country. On his return to Limestone, he met among others, Col. Patterson, of 
Lexington, and a surveyor by the name of Filson. Denman communicated to them his 
intention of laying out a town on his land, opposite Licking; and, after some conversation, 
agreed to take them in as partners, each paying a third of the purchase-money; and, on 
the further condition, that Col. Patterson should exert his influence to obtain settlers, and 
that Filson, in the ensuing spring, should survey the town, stake off the lots, and superintend 
the sale. They also agreed on the plan of the town, and to call it Losanteville. This 
being done, Patterson and Filson, with a party of settlers, proceeded to the ground, where 
they arrived late in December. In the course of the winter, before any attempt had been 
made to lay out the town, Filson wei\t on an exploring expedition with Judge Symmes and 
others, who had in contemplation to become purchasers and settle in the country. After 
the party had proceeded some thirty or forty miles into the wilderness, Filson, for some 
cause not now known, left them, for the purpose of returning to the settlements on the 
Ohio; and in that attempt was murdered by the Indians. This terminated his contract 
with Denman, as no part of the consideration had been paid, and his personal services, in 
surveying the town and superintending the sale of the lots, had become impracticable. 

Mr. Denman, being yet at Limestone, entered into another contract with Col. Patterson 
and Israel Ludlow, by which Ludlow was to perform the same services as were to have 
been rendered by the unfortunate Filson, had he lived to execute his contract. A new 
plan of a town was then made, differing, in many important respects, from the former,— 
particularly as to the public square, the commons, and the names of the streets. The 
whimsical name which had been adopted for the town to be laid out under the first con¬ 
tract, was repudiated, and Cincinnati selected, as the name of the town, to be laid out 
under the new contract. Late in the succeeding fall, Col. Ludlow commenced a survey of 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


207 


the town which has since become the Queen City of the West. He first laid off the lots, 
which, by previous agreement, were to be disposed of as donations to volunteer settlers, 
and completed the survey at his leisure. 

A misapprehension has prevailed, as appears from some recent publications, in regard to 
the price paid by the proprietors for the land on which the city stands. The original pur¬ 
chase by Mr. Denman, included a section and a fractional section, containing about eight 
hundred acres; for which*he paid five shillings per acre, in continental certificates, which 
were then worth, in specie, five shillings on the pound—so that the specie price per acre 
was fifteen pence. That sum multiplied by the number of acres, will give the original cost 
of the plat of Cincinnati. 

The third party of adventurers to the Miami purchase, were under the immediate care 
and direction of Judge Symmes. They left Limestone on the 29th of January, 1789, and 
on their passage down the river, were obstructed, delayed, and exposed to imminent danger 
from floating ice, which covered the river. They, however, reached the Bend, the place 
of their destination, in safety, early in February. The first object of the Judge was to 
found a city at that place, which had received the name of North Bend, from the fact that 
it was the most northern bend in the Ohio river below the mouth of the Great Kanawha. 

The water-craft used in descending the Ohio, in those primitive times, were flat-boats, 
made of green oak plank, fastened by wooden pins to a frame of timber, and caulked with 
tow, or any other pliant substance that could be procured. Boats similarly constructed on 
the northern waters, were then called ar/cs, but on the western rivers, they were denom¬ 
inated Kentucky boats. The materials of which they were composed, were found to be of 
great utility in the construction of temporary buildings for safety, and for protection from 
the inclemency of the weather, after they had arrived at their destination. 

At the earnest solicitation of the Judge, General Harmar sent Captain Kearsey with 
forty-eight rank and file, to protect the improvements just commencing in the Miami coun¬ 
try. This detachment reached Limestone in December, 1788, and in a few days after, 
Captain Kearsey sent a part of his command in advance, as a guard to protect the pioneers 
under Major Stites, at the Little Miami, where they arrived soon after. Mr. Symmes and 
his party, accompanied by Captain Kearsey, landed at Columbia, on their passage down 
the river, and the detachment previously sent to that place joined their company. They 
then proceeded to the Bend, and landed about the first or second of February. When 
they left Limestone, it was the purpose of Captain Kearsey to occupy the fort built at the 
mouth of the Miami, by a detachment of United States troops, who afterwards descended 
the river to the falls. 

That purpose was defeated by the flood in the river, which had spread over the low 
grounds and rendered it difficult to reach the fort. Captain Kearsey, however, was anxious 
to make the attempt, but the Judge would not consent to it; he was of course much dis¬ 
appointed, and greatly displeased. When he set out on the expedition, expecting to find a 
fort ready built to receive him, he did not provide the implements necessary to construct 
one. Thus disappointed and displeased, he resolved that he would not attempt to construct 
a new work, but would leave the Bend and join the garrison at Louisville. 

In pursuance of that resolution, he embarked early in March, and descended the river 
with his command. The Judge immediately wrote to Major Willis, commandant of the 
garrison at the Falls, complaining of the conduct of Captain Kearsey, representing the ex¬ 
posed situation of the Miami settlement, stating the indications of hostility manifested by 
the Indians, and requesting a guard to be sent to the Bend. This request was promptly 
granted, and before the close of the month, Ensign Luce arrived with seventeen or eighteen 
soldiers, which, for the time, removed the apprehensions of the pioneers at that place. It 
was not long, however, before the Indians made an attack on them, in which they killed 
one soldier, and wounded four or five other persons, including Major J. R. Mills, an emi¬ 
grant from Elizabethtown, New Jersey, who was a surveyor, and an intelligent and highly 
respected citizen. Although he recovered from his wounds, he felt their disabling effects 
to the day of his death. 

The surface of the ground where the Judge and his party had landed, was above the 
reach of the water, and sufficiently level to admit of a convenient settlement. He there¬ 
fore determined, for the immediate accommodation of his party, to lay out a village at that 
place, and to suspend, for the present, the execution of his purpose, as to the city, of which 
he had given notice, until satisfactory information could be obtained in regard to the com¬ 
parative advantages of different places in the vicinity. The determination, however, of 
laying out such a city, was not abandoned, but was executed in the succeeding year on a 
magnificent scale. It included the village, and extended from the Ohio across the penin¬ 
sular to the Miami river. This city, which was certainly a beautiful one, on paper, was 


208 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


called Symmes, and for a time was a subject of conversation and of criticism ; but it sooat 
ceased to be remembered—even its name was forgotten, and the settlement continued to 
be called North Bend. Since then, that village has been distinguished as the residence and 
the home of the soldier and statesman, William Henry Harrison, whose remains now repose 
in a humble vault on one of its beautiful hills. 

In conformity with a stipulation made at Limestone, every individual belonging to the 
party received a donation lot, which he was required to improve, as the condition of ob¬ 
taining a title. As the number of these adventurers increased in consequence of the pro¬ 
tection afforded by the military, the Judge was induced to lay out another village, six or 
seven miles higher up the river, which he called South Bend, where he disposed of some 
donation lots; but that project failed, and in a few years the village was deserted and con¬ 
verted into a farm. 

During these transactions, the Judge was visited by a number of Indians from a camp 
in the neighborhood of Stites’ settlement. One of them, a Shawnee chief, had many com¬ 
plaints to make of frauds practised on them by white traders, who fortunately had no con¬ 
nection with the pioneers. After several conversations, and some small presents, he pro¬ 
fessed to be satisfied with the explanation he had received, and gave assurances that the 
Indians would trade with the white men as friends. 

In one of their interviews, the Judge told him he had been commissioned and sent out 
to their country, by the thirteen fires, in the spirit of friendship and kindness ; and that he 
was instructed to treat them as friends and brothers. In proof of this he showed them 
the flag of the Union, with its stars and stripes, and also his commission, having the great 
seal of the United States attached to it; exhibiting the American eagle, with the olive 
branch in one claw, emblematical of peace, and the instrument of war and death in the 
other. He explained the meaning of those symbols to their satisfaction, though at first 
the chief seemed to think they were not very striking emblems either of peace or friend¬ 
ship ; but before he departed from the Bend, he gave assurances of the most friendly cha¬ 
racter. Yet, when they left their camp to return to their towns, they carried off a number 
of horses belonging to the Columbia settlement, to compensate for the injuries done them 
by wandering traders, who had no part or lot with the pioneers. These depredations hav¬ 
ing been repeated, a party was sent out in pursuit, who followed the trail of the Indians a 
considerable distance, when they discovered fresh signs, and sent Captain Flinn, one of 
their party, in advance, to reconnoitre. He had not proceeded far before he was surprised, 
taken prisoner, and carried to the Indian camp. Not liking the movements he saw going 
on, which seemed to indicate personal violence, in regard to himself, and having great con¬ 
fidence in his activity and strength, at a favorable moment he sprang from the camp, made 
his escape, and joined his party. The Indians, fearing an ambuscade, did not pursue. The 
party possessed themselves of some horses belonging to the Indians, and returned to 
Columbia. In a few days, the Indians brought in Captain Flinn’s rifle, and begged Major 
Stites to restore their horses—alledging that they were innocent of the depredations laid to> 
their charge. After some further explanations, the matter was amicably settled, and the 
horses were given up. 

The three principal settlements of the Miami country were commenced in the manner 
above described; and although they had one general object, and were threatened by one 
common danger, yet there existed a strong spirit of rivalry between them—each feeling a 
pride in the prosperity of the little colony to which he belonged. That spirit produced a 
strong influence on the feelings of the pioneers of the different villages, and produced an 
esprit du corps, scarcely to be expected under circumstances so critical and dangerous as 
those which threatened them. For some time it was a matter of doubt which of the rivals, 
Columbia, Cincinnati, or North Bend, would eventually become the chief seat of business. 

In the beginning, Columbia, the eldest of the three, took the lead, both in the number 
of its inhabitants, and the convenience and appearance of its dwellings. It was a flourish¬ 
ing village, and many believed it would become the great business town of the Miami 
country. That delusion, however, lasted but a short time. The garrison having been 
established at Cincinnati, made it the head-quarters, and the depot of the army. In addi¬ 
tion to this, as soon as the county courts of the territory were organized, it was made the 
seat of justice of Hamilton county. These advantages convinced every body that it was 
destined to become the emporium of the Miami country. 

At first, North Bend had a decided advantage over it; as the troops detailed by General 
Harmar for the protection of the Miami*pioneers were landed there, through the influence 
of Judge Symmes. That consideration induced many of the first adventurers to plant 
themselves at the Bend, believing it to be the place of the greatest safety. But, as has been 
stated, that detachment soon took its departure for Louisville. It appears also that Ensign 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


209 


Luce, the commandant of the party which succeeded it, did not feel bound to erect his fort 
at any particular place, but was at liberty to select the spot best calculated to afford the 
most extensive protection to the Miami settlers. Viewing his duty in that light, he put up 
a small temporary work, sufficient for the security of his troops, regardless of the earnest 
entreaty of the Judge, to proceed at once to erect a substantial, spacious block-house, suffi¬ 
cient for the protection of the inhabitants of the village. 

The remonstrances and entreaties of the Judge had but little influence on the mind of 
this obstinate officer; for, in despite of them all, he left the Bend, and proceeded to Cin¬ 
cinnati with his command, where he immediately commenced the construction of a mil¬ 
itary work. That important move was followed by very decided results—it terminated 
the strife for supremacy, by removing the only motive which had induced former emigrants 
to pass the settlements above, and proceed to the Bend. As soon as the troops removed 
from that place to Cincinnati, the settlers of the Bend, who were then the most numerous, 
feeling the loss of the protection on which thpy had relied, became uneasy, and began to 
follow; and ere long the place was almost entirely deserted, and the hope of making it 
even a respectable town, was abandoned. 

In the course of the ensuing summer. Major Doughty arrived at Cincinnati, with troops 
from Fort Harmar, and commenced the construction of Fort Washington, which was the 
most extensive and important military work in the territory belonging to the United States. 

About that time there was a rnmor prevailing in the settlement, said to have been en¬ 
dorsed by the Judge himself, which goes far to unravel the mystery, in which the removal 
of the troops from the Bend was involved. It was said and believed, that while the officer 
in command at that place was looking out very leisurely for a suitable site, on which to 
build the block-house, he formed an acquaintance with a beautiful black-eyed female, who 
called forth his most assiduous and tender attentions. She was the wife of one of the 
settlers at the Bend. Her husband saw the danger to which he would be exposed, if he 
remained where he was. He therefore resolved at once to remove to Cincinnati, and very 
promptly executed his resolution. 

As soon as the gallant commandant discovered that the object of his admiration had 
changed her residence, he began to think that the Bend was not an advantageous situation 
for a military work, and communicated that opinion to Judge Symmes, who strenuously 
opposed it. His reasoning, however, was not as persuasive as the sparkling eyes of the 
fair dulcinea then at Cincinnati. The result was a determination to visit Cincinnati, and 
examine its advantages for a military post, which he communicated to the Judge, with an 
assurance that if, on examination, it did not prove to be the most eligible place, he would 
return and erect the fort at the Bend. 

The visit was quickly made, and resulted in a conviction that the Bend could not be com¬ 
pared with Cincinnati as a military position. The troops were accordingly removed to 
that place, and the building of a block-house commenced. Whether this structure was on 
the ground on which Fort Washington was erected by Major Doughty, cannot now be de¬ 
cided. 

That movement, produced by a cause whimsical, and apparently trivial in itself, was 
attended with results of incalculable importance. It settled the question whether North 
Bend or Cincinnati was to be the great commercial town of the Miami country. Thus we 
see what unexpected results are sometimes produced by circumstances apparently trivial. 
The incomparable beauty of a Spartan dame, produced a ten years’ war, which terminated 
in the destruction of Troy ; and the irresistible charms of another female, transferred the 
commercial emporium of Ohio from the place where it had been commenced, to the place 
where it now is. If this captivating American Helen had continued at the Bend, the gar- 
rision would have been erected there—population, capital and business would have cen¬ 
tered there, and there would have been the Queen City of the West. 

****** 

A large number of the original adventurers to the Miami purchase, had exhausted their 
means by paying for their land, and removing their families to the country. Others were 
wholly destitute of property, and came out as volunteers, under the expectation of obtain¬ 
ing, gratuitously, such small tracts of land as might be forfeited by the purchasers, under 
Judge Symmes, for not making the improvements required by the conditions stipulated in 
the terms of sale and settlement of Miami lands, published by the Judge, in 1787; which 
will be more fully explained in a subsequent chapter. The class of adventurers first 
named was comparatively numerous, and had come out under an expectation of taking 
immediate possession of their lands, and of commencing the cultivation of them for sub¬ 
sistence. Their situation, therefore, was distressing. To go out into the wilderness to 
till the soil, appeared to be certain death; to remain in the settlements threatened them 

27 


210 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


with starvation. The best provided of the pioneers found it difficult to obtain subsistence ; 
and, of course, the class now spoken of were not far from total destitution. They depended 
on game, fish, and such products of the earth as could be raised on small patches of ground 
in the immediate vicinity of the settlements. 

Occasionally, small lots of provision were brought down the river by emigrants, and 
sometimes were transported on pack-horses, from Lexington, at a heavy expense, and not 
without danger. But supplies, thus procured, were beyond the reach of those destitute 
persons now referred to. 

Having endured these privations as long as they could be borne, the more resolute of 
them determined to brave the consequences of moving on to their lands. To accomplish 
the object with the least exposure, those whose lands were in the same neighborhood, 
united as one family; and on that principle, a number of associations were forme demount¬ 
ing to a dozen or more, who went out resolved to maintain their positions. 

Each party erected a strong block-house, near to which their cabins were put up, and 
the whole was enclosed by strong log pickets. This being done, they commenced clearing 
their lands, and preparing for planting their crops. During the day, while they were at 
work, one person was placed as a sentinel, to warn them of approaching danger. At sun¬ 
set they retired to the block-house and their cabins, taking every thing of value within the 
pickets. In this manner they proceeded from day to day, and week to week, till their im¬ 
provements were sufficiently extensive to support their families. During this time, they 
depended fqr subsistence on wild game, obtained at some hazard, more than on the scanty 
supplies they were able to procure from the settlements on the river. 

In a short time these stations gave protection and food to a large number of destitute 
families. After they were established, the Indians became less annoying to the settlements 
on the Ohio, as part of their time was employed in watching the stations. The former, 
however, did not escape, but endured their share of the fruits of savage hostility. In fact, 
no place or situation was exempt from danger. The safety of the pioneer depended on 
his means of defence, and on perpetual vigilance. 

The Indians viewed those stations with great jealousy, as they had the appearance of 
permanent military establishments, intended to retain possession of their country. In that 
view they were correct; and it was fortunate for the settlers, that the Indians wanted either 
the skill or the means of demolishing them. 

The truth of the matter is, their great error consisted in permitting those works to be 
constructed at all. They might have prevented it with great ease, but they appeared not 
to be aware of the serious consequences which were to result, until it was too late to act 
with effect. Several attacks were, however, made at different times, with an apparent 
determination to destroy them; but they failed in every instance. The assault made on 
the station erected by Captain Jacob White, a pioneer of much energy and enterprise, at 
the third crossing of Mill creek from Cincinnati, on the old Hamilton road, was resolute 
and daring; but it was gallantly met and successfully repelled. During the attack, which 
was in the night. Captain White shot and killed a warrior, who fell so near the block¬ 
house, that his companions could not remove his body. The next morning it was brought 
in, and judging from his stature, as reported by the inmates, he might have claimed descent 
from a race of giants. On examining the ground in the vicinity of the block-house, the 
appearances of blood indicated that the assailants had suffered severely. 

In the winter of 1790-1, an attack was made, with a strong party, amounting, probably, 
to four or five hundred, on Dunlap’s station, at Colerain. The block-house at that place 
was occupied by a small number of United States’ troops, commanded by Col. Kingsbury, 
then a subaltern in the army. The fort was furnished with a piece of artillery, which was 
an object of terror to the Indians ; yet that did not deter them from an attempt to effect 
their purpose. The attack was violent, and for some time the station was in imminent 
danger. 

The savages were led by the notorious Simon Girty, and outnumbered the garrison, at 
least, ten to one. The works were entirely of wood, and the only obstacle between the 
assailants and the assailed, was a picket of logs, that might have been demolished, with a 
loss not exceeding, probably, twenty or thirty lives. The garrison displayed unusual gal¬ 
lantry—they frequently exposed their persons above the pickets, to insult and provoke the 
assailants; and judging from the facts reported, they conducted with as much folly as 
bravery. 

Col. John Wallace, of Cincinnati, one of the earliest and bravest of the pioneers, and 
as amiable as he was brave, was in the fort when the attack was made. Although the 
works were completely surrounded by the enemy, the colonel volunteered his services to go 
to Cincinnati for a reinforcement. The fort stood on the east bank of the Big Miami. 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


211 


Late in the night, he was conveyed across the river, in a canoe, and landed on the opposite 
shore. Having passed down some miles bejpw the fort, he swam the river, and directed 
his course for Cincinnati. On his way down, the next day, he met a body of men from 
that place and from Columbia, proceeding to Colerain. They had been informed of the 
attack, by persons hunting in the neighborhood, who were sufficiently near the fort to hear 
the firing when it began. 

He joined the party, and led them to the station by the same route he had travelled from 
it; but before they arrived, the Indians had taken their departure. It was afterwards 
ascertained that Mr. Abner Hunt, a respectable citizen of New Jersey, who was on a sur¬ 
veying tour in the nighborhood of Colerain, at the time of the attack, was killed before he 
could reach the fort. His body was afterwards found, shockingly mangled. 

O. M. Spencer, in his “ Indian Captivity,” says: 

The Indians tied Hunt to a sapling, within sight of the garrison, who distinctly heard his 
screams, and built a large fire so near as to scorch him, inflicting the most acute pain; then, 
as his flesh, from the action of the fire and the frequent application of live coals, became 
less sensible, making deep incisions in his limbs, as if to renew his sensibility of pain ; an¬ 
swering his cries for water, to allay the extreme thirst caused by burning, by fresh tor¬ 
tures ; and, finally, when, exhausted and fainting, death seemed approaching to release the 
wretched prisoner, terminating his sufferings by applying flaming brands to his naked 
bowels. 

Soon as the settlers of Cincinnati landed they commenced erecting 
three or four cabins, the first of which was built on Front, east of 
and near Main street. The lower table of land was then covered 
with sycamore and maple trees, and the upper with beech and oak. 
Through this dense forest the streets were laid out, their corners 
being marked upon the trees. This survey extended from Eastern 
row, now Broadway, to Western row, and from the river as far 
north as to Northern row, now Seventh street. 

In January, 1790, Gen. Arthur St. Clair, then governor of the N. 
W. territory, arrived at Cincinnati to organize the county of Hamil¬ 
ton. In the succeeding fall, Gen. Harmar marched from Fort Wash¬ 
ington on his expedition against the Indians of the northwest. In 
the following year, (1791,) the unfortunate army of St. Clair marched 
from the same place. On his return, St. Clair gave Major Zeigler 
the command of Fort Washington and repaired to Philadelphia. 
Soon after, the latter was succeeded by Col. Wilkinson. This year, 
Cincinnati had little increase in its population. About one half of 
the inhabitants were attached to the army.of St. Clair, and many 
killed in the defeat. 

In 1792, about 50 persons were added by emigration to the popu¬ 
lation of Cincinnati, and a house of worship erected. In the spring 
following, the troops which had been recruited for Wayne’s army 
landed at Cincinnati and encamped on the bank of the river, between 
the village of Cincinnati and Mill creek. To that encampment 
Wayne gave the name of “ Hobson’s choice,” it being the only suit¬ 
able place for that object. Here he remained several months, con¬ 
stantly drilling his troops, and then moved on to a spot now in 
Darke county, where he erected Fort Greenville. In the fall, after 
the army had left, the small-pox broke out in the garrison at Fort 
Washington, and spread with so much malignity that nearly one 
third of the soldiers and citizens fell victims. In July, 1794, the 
army left Fort Greenville, and on the 20th of August, defeated the 


212 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


enemy at the battle of “ the Fallen Timbers,” in what is now Lucas 
county, a few miles above Toledo. Judge Burnet thus describes 
Cincinnati, at about this period. 

“ Prior to the treaty of Greenville, which established a permanent 
peace between the United States and the Indians, but few improve¬ 
ments had been made, of any description, and scarcely one of a per¬ 
manent character. In Cincinnati, Fort Washington was the most 
remarkable object. That rude, but highly interesting structure, 
stood between Third and Fourth streets produced, east of Eastern 
Row, now Broadway, which was then a two-pole alley, and was the 
eastern boundary of the town, as originally laid out. It was com¬ 
posed of a number of strongly built, hewed-log cabins, a story and 
a half high, calculated for soldier’s barracks. Some of them, more 
conveniently arranged, and better finished, were intended for offi¬ 
cers’ quarters. They were so placed as to form a hollow square of 
about an acre of ground, with a strong block-house at each angle. 
It was built of large logs, cut from the ground on which it stood, 
which was a tract of fifteen acres, reserved by Congress in the law 
of 1792, for the accommodation of the garrison. 

“ The artificers’ yard was an appendage to the fort, and stood on 
the bank of the river, immediately in front. It contained about two 
acres of ground, enclosed by small contiguous buildings, occupied 
as work-shops and quarters for laborers. Within the enclosure, 
there was a large two story frame house, familiarly called the * yel¬ 
low house,’ built for the accommodation of the Quartermaster Gen¬ 
eral, which was the most commodious and best finished edifice in 
Cincinnati. 

“ On the north side of Fourth street, immediately behind the fort, 
Colonel Sargent, secretary of the territory, had a convenient frame 
house, and a spacious garden, cultivated with care and taste. On 
the east side of the fort, Dr. Allison, the surgeon general of the 
army, had a plain frame dwelling, in the center of a large lot, culti¬ 
vated as a garden and fruitery, which was called Peach Grove. 

“ The Presbyterian church, an interesting edifice, stood on Main 
street, in front of the spacious brick building now occupied by the 
first Presbyterian congregation. It was a substantial frame build¬ 
ing, about 40 feet by 30, enclosed with clapboards, but neither 
lathed, plastered nor ceiled. The floor was of boat plank, resting 
on wooden blocks. In that humble edifice, the pioneers and their 
families assembled, statedly, for public worship; and, during the 
continuance of the war, they always attended with loaded rifles by 
their sides. That building was afterwards neatly finished, and some 
years subsequently, [1814,] was sold and removed to Vine street, 
where it now remains, the property of Judge Burke. 

‘‘On the north side of Fourth street, opposite where St. Paul’s 
church now stands, there stood a frame school house, enclosed, but 
unfinished, in which the children of the village were instructed. 
On the north side of the public square, there was a strong log build¬ 
ing, erected and occupied as a jail. A room in the tavern of George 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


213 


Avery, near the frog-pond, at the corner of Main and Fifth streets, 
had been rented for the accommodation of the courts; and as the 
penitentiary system had not been adopted, and Cincinnati was a 



The First Church in Cincinnati. 

[The engraving represents the first Presbyterian church, as it appeared in February, 1847. 
In the following spring, it was taken down, and the materials used for the construction of 
several dwellings in the part of Cincinnati called Texas. The greater proportion of the 
timber was found to be perfectly sound. In 1791, a number of the inhabitants formed 
themselves into a company, to escort the Rev. James Kemper from beyond the Kentucky 
river to Cincinnati; and after his arrival, a subscription was set on foot to build this church, 
which was erected in 1792. This subscription paper is still in existence, and bears date 
January 16th, 1792. Among its signers, were Gen. Wilkinson, Captains Ford, Peters and 
Shaylor, of the regular service. Dr. Allison, surgeon to St. Clair and Wayne, Winthrop 
Sargeant, Capt. Robert Elliot and others, principally citizens, to the number of 106, not one 
of whom survive.] 

seat of justice, it was ornamented with a pillory, stocks and whip¬ 
ping-post, and occasionally with a gallows. These were all the 
structures of a public character then in the place. Add to these, 
the cabins and other temporary buildings for the shelter of the in¬ 
habitants, and it will complete the schedule of the improvements of 
Cincinnati, at the time of the treaty of Greenville. The only ves¬ 
tige of them, now remaining, is the church of the pioneers. With 
that exception, and probably two or three frame buildings which 
have been repaired, improved and preserved, every edifice in the 
city has been erected since the ratification of that treaty. The sta¬ 
tions of defence scattered through the Miami valley, were all tem¬ 
porary, and have long since gone to decay, or been demolished. 

“ It may assist the reader in forming something like a correct idea 
of the appearance of Cincinnati, and of what it actually was at that 
time, to know, that the intersection of Main and Fifth streets, now the 
center of business and tasteful improvement, there was a pond of 
water, full of alder bushes, from which the frogs serenaded the 
neighborhood during the summer and fall, and which rendered it 
necessary to construct a causeway of logs, to pass it. That morass 
remained in its natural state, with its alders and its frogs, several 




















































214 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


years after Mr. B. became a resident of the place, the population 
of which, including the garrison and followers of the army, was 
about six hundred. The fort was then commanded by William H. 
Harrison, a captain in the army, but afterwards president of the 
United States. In 1797, General Wilkinson, the commander-in¬ 
chief of the army, made it his head-quarters for a few months, Jmt 
did not, apparently, interfere with the command of Captain Harri¬ 
son, which continued till his resignation in 1798. 

“During the period now spoken of, the settlements of the territory, 
including Cincinnati, contained but few individuals, and still fewer 
families, who had been accustomed to mingle in the circles of pol¬ 
ished society. That fact put it in the power of the military to give 
character to the manners and customs of the people. Such a school, 
it must be admitted, was by no means calculated to make the most 
favorable impression on the morals and sobriety of any community, 
as was abundantly proved by the result. 

“Idleness, drinking and gambling prevailed in the army to a greater 
extent than it has done to any subsequent period. This may be at¬ 
tributed to the fact, that they had been several years in the wilder¬ 
ness, cut off from all society but their own, with but few comforts 
or conveniences at hand, and no amusements but such as their own 
ingenuity could invent. Libraries were not to be found—men of 
literary minds, or polished manners, were rarely met with; and 
they had long been deprived of the advantage of modest, accom¬ 
plished female society, which always produces a salutary influence 
on the feelings and moral habits of men. Thus situated, the officers 
were urged, by an irresistible impulse, to tax their wits for expe¬ 
dients to fill up the chasms of leisure which were left on their hands, 
after a full discharge of their military duties; and, as is too fre¬ 
quently the case, in such circumstances, the bottle, the dice-box and 
the card-table were among the expedients resorted to, because they 
were the nearest at hand, and the most easily procured. 

“ It is a distressing fact, that a very large proportion of the offi¬ 
cers under General Wayne, and subsequently under General Wil¬ 
kinson, were hard drinkers. Harrison, Clark, Shomberg, Ford, 
Strong and a few others, were the only exceptions. Such were the 
habits of the army when they began to associate with the inhab¬ 
itants of Cincinnati, and of the western settlements generally, and 
to give tone to public sentiment. 

“As a natural consequence, the citizens indulged in the same 
practices, and formed the same habits. As a proof of this, it may 
be stated, that when Mr. Burnet came to the bar, there were nine 
resident lawyers engaged in the practice, of whom he is, and has 
been for many years, the only survivor. They all became con¬ 
firmed sots, and descended to premature graves, excepting his 
brother, who was a young man of high promise, but whose life was 
terminated by a rapid consumption, in the summer of 1801. He 
expired under the shade of a tree, by the side of the road, on the 
banks of Paint creek, a few miles from Chillicothe.” 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


215 


On the 9th of November, 1793, Wm. Maxwell established, at Cin¬ 
cinnati, “theCentinel of the North-Western Territory,” with the 
motto, “ open to all parties—influenced by none.” It was on a half 
sheet, royal quarto size, and was the first newspaper printed north 
of the Ohio river. In 1796, Edward Freeman became the owner of 
the paper, which he changed to “ Freeman’s Journal,” which he con¬ 
tinued until the beginning of 1800, when he removed to Chillicothe. 
On the 28th of May, 1799, Joseph Carpenter issued the first number 
of a weekly paper, entitled the “Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette.” 
On the 11th of January, 1794, two keel boats sailed from Cincinnati 
to Pittsburg, each making a trip once in four weeks. Each boat was 
so covered as to be protected against rifle and musket balls, and had 
port-holes to fire out at, and was provided with six pieces, carrying 
pound balls, a number of muskets and ammunition, as a protection 
against the Indians on the banks of the Ohio. In 1801, the first sea 
vessel equipped for sea, of 100 tons, built at Marietta, passed down 
the Ohio, carrying produce ; and the banks of the river at Cincinnati 
were crowded with spectators to witness this novel event. Dec. 
19th, 1801, the territorial legislature passed a bill, removing the 
seat of government from Chillicothe to Cincinnati. 

January 2d, 1802, the territorial legislature incorporated the town 
of Cincinnati, and the following officers were appointed: David 
Zeigler, president; Jacob Burnet, recorder; Wm. Ramsay, David 
E. Wade, Chas. Avery, John Reily, Wm. Stanley, Samuel Dick and 
Wm. Ruffner, trustees; Jo. Prince, assessor; Abram Cary, collec¬ 
tor, and James Smith, town marshal. In 1795, the town contained 
94 cabins, 10 frame houses, and about 500 inhabitants. In 1800, the 
population was estimated at 750, and in 1810, it was 2,540. 

We give, on an adjoining page, a view of Cincinnati, taken by J. 
Cutler, as it appeared about the year 1810. It is from an engraving 
in “ the Topographical Description of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and 
Louisiana, by a late officer of the army,” and published at Boston, in 
1812. 

That work states, that Cincinnati contains about 400 dwellings, an elegant court-house, 
jail, 3 market-houses, a land office for the sale of congress lands, 2 printing offices, issuing 
weekly gazettes, 30 mercantile stores, and the various branches of mechanism are carried 
on with spirit. Industry of every kind being duly encouraged by the citizens, it is likely to 
become a considerable manufacturing place. It has a bank, issuing notes under the author¬ 
ity of the state, called the Miami Exporting Company.A considerable trade 

is carried on between Cincinnati and New Orleans in keel boats, which return laden with 
foreign goods. The passage of a boat, of forty tons, down to New Orleans, is computed at 
about 25, and its return at about 65 days. 

In 1819, a charter was obtained from the state legislature, by 
which Cincinnati was incorporated as a city. This, since repeat¬ 
edly amended and altered, forms the basis of its present municipal 
authority. 

Cincinnati is 116 miles southwest Columbus; 120 southeast Indi¬ 
anapolis, la.; 90 north northwest Lexington, Ky.; 270 north north¬ 
east Nashville, Tenn.; 455 below Pittsburg, Pa., by the course of 
the river ; 132 above Louisville, Ky.; 494 above the mouth of the 



216 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


Ohio river, and 1447 miles above New Orleans by the Mississippi 
and Ohio rivers; 518 by post route west of Baltimore; 617 miles 
west by south of Philadelphia; 650 from New York by Lake 
Erie, Erie canal and Hudson river, and 492 from Washington City. 
It is in 39 deg. 6 minutes 30 seconds north lat., and 7 deg. 24 minutes 
25 seconds west long. It is the largest city of the west, north of 
New Orleans, and the fifth in population in the United States. It is 
situated on the north bank of the Ohio river, opposite the mouth of 
Licking river, which enters the Ohio between Newport and Coving¬ 
ton, Ky. The Ohio here has a gradual bend towards the south. 

This city is near the eastern extremity of a valley, about twelve 
miles in circumference, surrounded by beautiful hills, which rise to 
the height of 300 feet by gentle and varying slopes, and mostly cov¬ 
ered with native forest trees. The summit of these hills presents a 
beautiful and picturesque view of the city and valley. The city is 
built on two table lands, the one elevated from 40 to 60 feet above 
the other. Low water mark in the river, which is 108 below the 
upper part of the city, is 432 feet above tide water at Albany, and 
133 feet below the level of Lake Erie. The population in 1800, was 
750 ; in 1810, 2540 ; in 1820, 9602 ; in 1830, 24,831 ; in 1840, 46,338, 
and in 1847, over 90,000. Employed in commerce in 1840, 2,226 ; 
in manufactures and trades, 10,866: navigating rivers and canals, 
1748 ; in the learned professions, 377. Covington and Newport op¬ 
posite, in Ky., and Fulton and the adjacent parts of Mill creek town¬ 
ship on the north, are in fact, suburbs of Cincinnati, and if added to 
the above population would extend it to 105,000. The shores of the 
Ohio at the landing, is substantially paved to low water mark and is 
supplied with floating wharves, adapted to the great rise and fall of 
river, which renders the landing and shipping of goods at all times 
convenient. 

Cincinnati seems to have been originally laid out on the model of 
Philadelphia, with great regularity. North of Main street, between 
the north side of Front street and the bank of the river, is the land¬ 
ing, an open area of 10 acres, with about 1000 feet front. This area 
is of great importance to the business of the city, and generally pre¬ 
sents a scene of much activity. The corporate limits include about 
four square miles. The central part is compactly and finely built, 
with spacious warehouses, large stores and handsome dwellings; 
but in its outer parts, it is but partially built up and the houses ir¬ 
regularly scattered. Many of them are of stone or brick, but an 
equal or greater number are of wood, and are generally from two to 
four stories high. The city contains over 11,000 edifices public and 
private; and of those recently erected, the number of brick ex¬ 
ceeds those of wood, and the style of architecture is constantly im¬ 
proving. Many of the streets are well paved, extensively shaded 
with trees and the houses ornamented with shrubbery. The climate 
is more variable than on the Atlantic coast, in the same latitude. 
Snow rarely falls sufficiently deep, or lies long enough, to furnish 
sleighing. Few places are more healthy, the average annual mor- 


CINCINNATI IN 1810. 



t 


28 




























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































218 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


tality being 1 in 40. The inhabitants are from every state in the 
Union and from various countries in Europe. Besides natives of 
Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have furnished the greatest 
number; but many are from New York, Virginia, Maryland and 
New England. Nearly one fifth of the adult population are Ger¬ 
mans. But England, Ireland, Scotland, France and Wales, have 
furnished considerable numbers. 

The Ohio river at Cincinnati, is 1800 feet, or about one third of a 
mile wide, and its mean annual range from low to high water, is 
about 50 feet; the extreme range may be about 10 feet more. The 
greatest depressions are generally in August, September and Octo¬ 
ber ; and the greatest rise in December, March, May and June. 
The upward navigation is generally suspended by floating ice for 
eight or ten weeks in the winter. Its current at its mean height, is 
about 3 miles an hour; when higher and rising, it is more; and 
when very low, it does not exceed 2 miles. The quantity of rain 
and snow which falls annually at Cincinnati, is near 3 feet 9 inches. 
The wettest month is May, and the driest January. The average 
number of clear and fair days in a year, is 146; of variable, 114 ; 
of cloudy, 105. There have been, since 1840, from thirty to thirty 
eight steamboats annually built with an average aggregate tonnage 
of 6500 tons. 

Among the public buildings of Cincinnati, is the court house on 
Main street; it is a spacious building. The edifice of the Franklin 
and Lafayette bank of Cincinnati, on Third street, has a splendid 
portico of Grecian Doric columns, 4 feet 6 inches in diameter, ex¬ 
tending through the entire front, was built after the model of the 
Parthenon, and is truly classical and beautiful. The first and sec¬ 
ond Presbyterian churches are beautiful edifices, and the Unitarian 
church is singularly neat. There are several churches built within 
the last three years, which possess great beauty, either internally or 
externally. But the most impressive building is the Catholic Ca¬ 
thedral, which at far less cost, surpasses in beauty and picturesque 
effect, the metropolitan edifice at Baltimore. There are many fine 
blocks of stores, on Front, Walnut, Pearl, Main and Fourth streets, 
and the eye is arrested by many beautiful private habitations. The 
most showy quarters are Main street, Broadway, Pearl and Fourth 
street, west of its intersection with Main. 

There are 76 churches in Cincinnati, viz.: 7 Presbyterian, (4 old 
and 3 new school;) 2 Congregational; 12 Episcopal Methodist; 
2 Methodist Protestant; 2 Wesleyan Methodist; 1 Methodist Epis¬ 
copal south; 1 Bethel; 1 Associate Reformed ; 1 Reformed Pres¬ 
byterian ; 6 Baptist; 5 Disciples ; 1 Universalist; 1 Restoration^ ; 
1 Christian; 8 German Lutheran and Reformed ; English Lutheran 
and Reformed 1 each; 1 United Brethren; 1 Welch Calvinistic; 
1 Welch Congregational; 1 Unitarian; 2 Friends ; 1 New Jerusa¬ 
lem ; 8 Catholic, 6 of which are for Germans ; 2 Jews Synagogues; 
5 Episcopal and 1 Second Advent. 

There are 5 market houses and 3 theatres, of which 1 is German. 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


219 


Cincinnati contains many literary and charitable institutions. The 
Cincinnati college was founded in 1819. The building is in the 
center of the city, and is the most beautiful edifice of the kind 



St. Xavier’s College. 


in the state. It is of the Grecian Doric order, with pilaster fronts 
and facade of Dayton marble, and cost about $35,000. It has 7 
professors or other instructors, about 160 pupils, one quarter of 
whom are in the collegiate department. Woodward college, named 
from its founder, who gave a valuable block of ground in the north 



Lane Seminary. 


part of the city, has a president and five professors, or other in¬ 
structors, and including its preparatory department, near 200 stu¬ 
dents. The Catholics have a college called St. Xavier’s, which 

































220 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


has about 100 students and near 5000 volumes in its libraries. Lane 
seminary, a theological institution, is at Walnut Hills, 2 miles from 
the centre of the city. It went into operation in 1833, has near 100 
students, and over 10,000 volumes in its libraries. There is no 
charge for tuition. Rooms are provided and furnished at $5 per 
annum, and the students boarded at 90 and 62^ cents per week. 
The Medical college was chartered and placed under trustees, in 
1825. It has a large and commodious building, a library of over 
2000 volumes, 7 professors and about 150 students. The Cincinnati 
law school is connected with Cincinnati college, has 3 professors 
and about 30 students. The mechanics’ institute, chartered in 1828, 
has a valuable philosophical and chemical apparatus, a library and 
a reading room. The common free schools of the city are of a 
high order, with fine buildings, teachers and apparatus. In the high 
schools, there are not less than 1500 pupils ; in the common and pri¬ 
vate 5000, and including the students in the collegiate institutions, 
there are 7000 persons in the various departments of education. 
In 1831, a college of teachers was established, having for its object 
the elevation of the profession, and the advancement of the interest 
of schools in the Mississippi valley, which holds an annual meeting 
in Cincinnati, in October. The young men’s mercantile library 
association has a fine library and reading rooms. The library con¬ 
tains over 3800 volumes, and the institution promises to be an honor 
and a blessing to the commercial community. The apprentices’ li¬ 
brary, founded in 1821, contains 2200 volumes. 

The charitable institutions of the city are highly respectable. 
The Cincinnati orphan asylum is in a building, which cost 618,000. 
Attached is a library and well-organized school, with a provision 
even for infants ; and it is surrounded by ample grounds. It has 
trained up over 300 children for usefulness. The Catholics have 
one male and female orphan asylum. The commercial hospital and 
lunatic asylum of Ohio, was incorporated in 1821. The edifice, in 
the northwest part of the city, will accommodate 250 persons ; 1100 
have been admitted within a year. A part of the building is used 
for a poor house; and there are separate apartments for the insane. 

The city is supplied by water raised from the Ohio river, by a 
steam engine, of 40 horse power, and forced into two reservoirs, on 
a hill, 700 feet distant; from whence it is carried in pipes to the in¬ 
tersection of Broadway and Third streets, and thence distributed 
through the principal streets in pipes. These works are now owned 
by the city. 

Cincinnati is an extensive manufacturing place. Its natural desti¬ 
tution of water power is extensively compensated at present by 
steam engines, and by the surplus water of the Miami canal, which 
affords 3000 cubic feet per minute. But the Cincinnati and White 
Water canal, which extends 25 miles and connects with the White 
Water canal of Indiana, half a mile south of Harrison, on the state 
line, will furnish a great increase of water power, equal to 90 runs 
of millstones. The manufactures of the city, already large, may be 


CINCINNATI, FROM THE OHIO. 
























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































HAMILTON COUNTY. 


221 


expected to greatly increase. By a late enumeration, it appears 
that the manufactures of Cincinnati of all kinds, employs 10,647 
persons, a capital of $14,541,842, and produces articles of over sev¬ 
enteen millions of dollars value. 

The trade of Cincinnati embraces the country from the Ohio to 
the lakes, north and south ; and from the Scioto to the Wabash, east 
and west. The Ohio river line, in Kentucky, for 50 miles down, 
and as far up as the Virginia line, make their purchases here. Its 
manufactures are sent into the upper and lower Mississippi country. 

There are six incorporated banks, with aggregate capital of 
$5,800,000, beside two unincorporated banks. Cincinnati is the 
greatest pork market in the world. Not far from three millions of 
dollars worth of pork are annually exported. 

Cincinnati enjoys great facilities for communication with the sur¬ 
rounding country. The total length of canals, railroads and turn¬ 
pikes which center here, completed and constructing, is 1125 miles. 
Those who have made it a matter of investigation predict, that Cin¬ 
cinnati will eventually be a city of a very great population. A 
writer* in Cist’s “ Cincinnati in 1841,” in a long article on this sub¬ 
ject, commences with the startling announcement: “ Not having be¬ 
fore my eyes the fear of men, ‘ who—in the language of Governeur 
Morris—with too much pride to study and too much wit to think, 
undervalue what they do not understand, and condemn what they 
do not comprehend,’ I venture the prediction, that within one hun¬ 
dred years from this time, Cincinnati will be the greatest city in 
America; and by the year of our Lord, 2000, the greatest city in 
the world.” We have not space here to recapitulate the argu¬ 
ments on which this prediction is based. The prediction itself we 
place on record for future reference.! 

The few following pages are devoted to incidents which have 
transpired within the city or county. They are derived mainly from 
published sources. 

A Legend of Jacob Wetzel .—The road along the Ohio river, leading to Storrs and 
Delhi, some four hundred yards below the junction of Front and Fifth streets, crosses what, 
in early days, was the outlet of a water-course, and notwithstanding the changes made by 
the lapse of years, and the building improvements adjacent, the spot still possesses many 
features of its original surface, although now divested of its forest character. At the period 
of this adventure—Oct. 7th, 1790—besides the dense forest of maple and beech, its heavy 
undergrowth of spice-wood and grape-vine made it an admirable lurking place for the 
savage beasts, and more savage still, the red men of the woods. 

Wetzel had been out on his accustomed pursuit—hunting—and was returning to town, at 
that time a few cabins and huts collected in the space fronting the river, and extending from 
Main street to Broadway. He had been very successful, and was returning to procure a 
horse to bear a load too heavy for his own shoulders, and, at the spot alluded to, had sat 
down on a decaying tree-trunk to rest himself, and wipe the sweat from his brow, which 
his forcing his way through the brush had started, cool as was the weather, when he heard 
the rustling of leaves and branches, which betokened that an animal or an enemy was ap¬ 
proaching. Silencing the growl of his dog, who sat at his feet, and appeared equally con- 


* J. W. Scott, editor of the Toledo Blade. 

t The preceding descriptive sketch of Cincinnati is abridged from that in M’Culloch’s 
Gazetteer, by Charles Cist, editor of the Advertiser, with the statistics brought down to 
1847. 



222 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


scious of danger, he sprang behind a tree and discovered the dark form of an Indian, half 
hidden by the body of a large oak, who had his rifle in his hands, ready for any emergency 
that might require the use of it—as he, too, appeared to be on his guard, having heard the 
low growling of the dog. At this instant, the dog also spied the Indian and barked aloud, 
which told the Indian of the proximity of his enemy. To raise his rifle was but the work 
of a moment, and the distinct cracks of two weapons were heard almost at the same time. 
The Indian’s fell from his hands, as the ball of the hunter’s had penetrated and broken the 
elbow of his left arm, while the hunter escaped unhurt. Before the Indian could possibly re¬ 
load his rifle in his wounded condition, Wetzel had rushed swiftly upon him with his knife, 
but not before the Indian had drawn his. The first thrust was parried off by the Indian 
with the greatest skill, and the shock was so great in the effort that the hunter’s weapon 
was thrown some thirty feet from him. Nothing daunted, he threw himself upon the Indian 
with all his force and seized him around the body; at the same time encircling the right 
arm, in which the Indian still grasped his knife. The Indian, however, was a very muscu¬ 
lar fellow, and the conflict now seemed doubtful indeed. The savage was striving with all 
his might to release his arm, in order to use his knife. In their struggle, their feet became 
interlocked, and they both fell to the ground, the Indian uppermost, which extricated the 
Indian’s arm from the iron grasp of the hunter. He was making his greatest endeavors 
to use his knife, but could not, from the position in which they were lying, as Wetzel soon 
forced him over on his right side, and, consequently, he could have no use of his arm. 

Just at this point of the deadly conflict, the Indian gave an appalling yell, and, with re¬ 
newed strength, placed his enemy underneath him again, and with a most exulting cry of 
victory, as he sat upon his body, raised his arm for that fatal plunge. Wetzel saw death 
before his eyes, and gave himself up for lost, when, just at this most critical juncture, his 
faithful dog, who had not been an uninterested observer of the scene, sprang forward and 
seized the Indian with such force by the throat, as caused the weapon to fall harmless from 
his hand. Wetzel, seeing such a sudden change in his fate, made one last and desperate 
effort for his life, and threw the Indian from him. Before the prostrate savage had time to 
recover himself, the hunter had seized his knife, and with redoubled energy rushed upon 
him, and with his foot firmly planted on the Indian’s breast, plunged the weapon up to the 
hilt in his heart. The savage gave one convulsive shudder, and was no more. 

As soon as Wetzel had possessed himself of his rifle, together with the Indian’s weapons, 
he started immediately on his way. He had gone but a short distance when his ears were 
assailed by the startling whoop of a number of Indians. He ran eagerly for the river, and, 
fortunately, finding a canoe on the beach near the water, was soon out of reach, and made 
his way, without further danger, to the cove at the foot of Sycamore street. 

The Indians came up to the place of the recent renconter, and discovered the body of a 
fallen comrade. They gave a most hideous yell when, upon examination, they recognized 
in the dead Indian the features of one of their bravest chiefs. 


O. M. Spencer taken Captive .—In July, 1792, two men, together with Mrs. Coleman 
and Oliver M. Spencer, then a lad, were returning in a canoe from Cincinnati to Columbia. 
They were fired upon by two Indians, in ambush on the river bank; one of the men was 
killed, and the other, a Mr. Light, wounded. Mrs. Coleman jumped from the canoe into 
the river, and without making any exertions to swim, floated down nearly two miles. 
It is supposed she was borne up by her dress, which, according to the fashion of that time, 
consisted of a stuffed quilt and other buoyant robes. Spencer was taken and carried captive 
to the Maumee, where he remained about eight months and was ransomed. A narrative of 
his captivity, written by himself, has been published by the Methodists. 


Death of Col. Robt. Elliott .—In 1794, Col. Robert Elliott, contractor for supplying the 
United States army, while travelling with his servant from Fort Washington to Fort Ham¬ 
ilton, was waylaid and killed by the Indians, at the big hill, south of where Thos. Fleming 
lived, and near the line of Hamilton and Butler counties. When shot, he fell from his horse. 
The servant made his escape by putting his horse at full speed, followed by that of Elliott’s* 
into Fort Hamilton. The savage who shot the colonel, in haste to take his scalp, drew his 
knife, and seized him by the wig which he wore. To his astonishment, the scalp came off 
at the first touch, when he exclaimed, “ dam lie /” In a few minutes, the surprise of the 
party was over, and they made themselves merry at the expense of their comrade. The 
next day, a party from the fort, under the guidance of the servant, visited the spot, placed 
the body in a coffin and proceeded on their way to Fort Washington. About a mile south 
of Springdale, they were fired upon by Indians, and the servant, who was on the horse of 
his late master, was shot at the first fire. The party retreated, leaving the body of Elliott 




HAMILTON COUNTY. 


223 


with the savages, who had broken open the coffin, when the former rallied, re-took the body 
and carried it, with that of the servant, to Cincinnati, and buried them side by side in the 
Presbyterian cemetery, on Twelfth street. Several years after, a neat monument was 
erected, with the following inscription. 


In memory of 
ROBERT ELLIOTT, 

SLAIN BY A PARTY OF INDIANS, 

Near this point. 

While in the service of his country. 

Placed by his son, 

Com. J. D. Elliott, U. S. Navy. 
1835. 

DAMON AND FIDELITY. 


A Witch Story .—About the year 1814, one of our most wealthy and respectable farmers 
on Mill creek, who had taken great pains and expended much money in procuring and 
propagating a fine breed of horses, was unfortunate in losing a number of them, by a dis¬ 
temper which appeared to be of a novel character. As the disease baffled all his skill, he 
soon became satisfied that it was the result of witchcraft. Under that impression, he con¬ 
sulted such persons as were reputed to have a knowledge of sorcery, or who pretended to 
be fortune-tellers. These persons instructed him how to proceed to discover and destroy 
the witch. One of the experiments he was directed to make, was to boil certain ingredients, 
herbs, et cetera, over a hot fire, with pins and needles in the cauldron, which, he was told, 
would produce great mental and bodily distress in the witch or wizzard. He tried that 
experiment, and while the pot was boiling furiously, placed himself in his door, which over¬ 
looked the principal part of his farm, including the field in which his horses were kept. It 
so happened, that, while standing in the door, he saw his daughter-in-law, who lived in a 
cabin about 80 rods from his own house, hastening to the spring for a bucket of water. His 
imagination connected that hurried movement with his incantation so strongly, that he im¬ 
mediately ordered his son to move his family from the farm. 

From some cause, he had formed arj, opinion that a Mrs. Garrison, an aged woman, in 
feeble health, fast sinking to the grave, living some eight or ten miles from his farm, was 
the principal agent in the destruction of his horses. He had frequently expressed that 
opinion in the neighborhood. Mrs. Garrison had heard of it, and, as might be expected, 
her feelings were injured and her spirits much depressed by the slanderous report. One of 
the charms he had been directed to try, was to shoot a silver bullet at a horse while the 
witch was evidently in him. This he was told would kill the witch and cure the animal. 
He accordingly prepared a silver ball, and shot it at a very fine brood mare which was 
affected by the distemper. The mare, of course, was killed ; and as it so happened, that, in 
a very short time after, poor Mrs. Garrison died, the experiment was declared to be success¬ 
ful, and the experimenter believes to this day that his silver bullet killed the poor old woman. 
However that may be, his slanderous report had a great effect on her health, and no doubt 
hastened her death. 


Explosion of the Moselle .—The new and elegant steamboat, Moselle, Capt. Perkin, left 
the wharf in Cincinnati, April 26th, 1838, (full of passengers,) for Louisville and St. Louis; 
and, with the view of taking a family on board at Fulton, about a mile and a half above 
the quay, proceeded up the river and made fast to a lumber raft for that purpose. Here 
the family was taken on board; and, during the whole time of their detention, the captain 
had madly held on to all the steam that he could create, with the intention, not only of 
showing off to the best advantage the great speed of his boat, as it passed down the river 
the entire length of the city, but that he might overtake and pass another boat which had 
left the wharf for Louisville, but a short time previous. As the Moselle was a new brag 
boat, and had recently made several exceedingly quick trips to and from Cincinnati, it 
would not do to risk her popularity for speed, by giving to another boat (even though that 
boat had the advantage of time and distance) the most remote chance of being the first to 
arrive at the destined port. This insane policy,—this poor ambition of proprietors and 





224 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


captains, has almost always inevitably tended to the same melancholy results. The Mo¬ 
selle had but just parted from the lumber raft to which she had been fast,—her wheels had 
scarcely made their first revolution,—when her boilers burst with an awful and astound¬ 
ing noise, equal to the most violent clap of thunder. The explosion was destructive and 
heart-rending in the extreme; heads, limbs and bodies, were seen flying through the air in 
every direction, attended with the most horrible shrieks and groans from the wounded and 
dying. The boat, at the time of the accident, was about thirty feet from the shore, and 
was rendered a perfect wreck. It seemed to be entirely shattered as far back as the gen¬ 
tlemen’s cabin ; and her hurricane deck, the whole length, was entirely swept away. The 
boat immediately began to sink, and float with a strong current down the river, at the same 
time receding farther from the shore,—while the passengers, who yet remained unhurt in 
the gentlemen’s and ladies’ cabins, became panic-struck, and most of them, with a fatuity 
which seems unaccountable, jumped into the river. Being above the ordinary business parts 
of the city, there was no boats at hand, except a few large and unmanageable wood-floats, 
which were carried to the relief of the sufferers, as soon as possible, by the few persons on 
the shore. Many were drowned, however, before they could be rescued, and many sunk, 
who were never seen afterwards. There was one little boy on the shore who was seen 
wringing his hands in agony, imploring those present to save his father, mother and three 
sisters,—all of whom were struggling in the water to gain the shore,—but whom the little 
fellow had the awful misfortune to see perish, one by one, almost within his reach ; an infant 
child, belonging to the family, was picked up alive, floating down the river on one of the 
frag-ments of the hurricane deck. 

The boat sunk about fifteen minutes after the explosion, leaving nothing to be seen but 
her chimneys, and a small portion of her upper works. 

The Moselle was crowded with passengers from stem to stern, principally Germans, 
bound to St. Louis. Nearly all on board (with the exception of those in the ladies’ cabin) 
were killed or wounded. Most of the sufferers were among the hands of the boat and the 
steerage passengers. The captain was thrown by the explosion into the street, and was 
picked up dead and dreadfully mangled. Another man was forced through the roof of one 
of the neighboring houses ; the pilot was thrown about a hundred feet into the air, whence he 
fell and found his grave in the river,—and many were the limbs and other fragments of hu¬ 
man bodies, which were found scattered about upon the river, and far along the shore. The 
number destroyed by the explosion, was estimated at over two hundred persons. 

The Asiatic Cholera .—The cholera made its appearance in Cincinnati, in October, 1832. 
The reports of the board of health, as published in the city papers, commenced on the 10th 
of that month, and terminated on the 3d of November. The whole number of deaths, as 
then published, was 351, which was probably much less than the real number. The great¬ 
est number of deaths in any one day, was on Oct. 21st, when 42 persons died. 

The following articles are derived from the newspapers of Cin¬ 
cinnati, and relate to events of the few past years. 

The Great Freshet of February, 1832.—The Ohio river commenced rising at this place 
about the 9th inst. On the 12th, it began to swell over the banks, and on the 14th, many 
merchants and others near the river, were compelled to remove their goods to the second 
story of their houses. It continued to rise rapidly till Saturday morning, Feb. 18th, when 
it came to a stand, having risen sixty three feet above low water mark. Differences of 
opinion exists as to its comparative height, with the rises of 1792 and 1815. It is sup¬ 
posed to have been about 5 feet higher than in 1792 or 1815. About noon, on the 18th, 
it commenced falling very slowly, and yet continues to fall. In the course of two or three 
days it probably will be confined within its banks. 

The rise was of the most distressing character. It carried desolation into all the lower 
part of the city. Hundreds of families were turned houseless upon the community. Du¬ 
ring the early part of the rise, many in the lower part of the city were awakened at night 
by the water pouring in upon them, and were obliged to fly ; others betook themselves to the 
upper stories, and were brought away in boats the next morning. Many families continue 
to reside in the upper part of their dwellings, making use of boats in going from and re¬ 
turning to their stores and houses. 

We have heard of the death of but two individuals, Mr. John Harding and Mr. William 
Aulsbrook; the former, a man of family, the latter, a single man. They were in the em¬ 
ploy of Mr. William Tift, of this city, and lost their lives in endeavoring to keep the water 
out of his cellar. While at work the back wall of the building gave way—the cellar 
filled in an instant, and they were unable to get out. They both were very worthy men. 



HAMILTON COUNTY. 


225 


The water extended over about thirty-five squares of the thickly settled part of the city, 
from John street on the west, to Deer creek on the east, and north to Lower Market and 
Pearl streets. The distance of about a mile west of John street was likewise submerged. 
This part of the city, however, is but thinly settled. 

The amount of damage sustained by merchants, owners of improved real estate and 
others cannot be correctly ascertained. Many houses have floated away, a great num¬ 
ber have moved from their foundations and turned over; many walls have settled so as to 
injure the houses materially ; and a great quantity of lumber and other property has floated 
off. The large bridge over the mouth of Mill creek floated away, and that over Deer 
creek is much injured. Thousands and tens of thousands of dollars worth of dry goods, 
groceries, &c., have been destroyed or materially injured. Business of almost every de¬ 
scription was stopped ; money became scarce, and wood and flour enormously high. 

Active measures were taken by the citizens for the relief of the sufferers. A town 
meeting was held at the council chamber, on the 15th inst. G. W. Jones was appointed 
chairman, and Samuel H. Goodin, secretary. On motion, a committee of 15 (3 from a 
ward) was appointed to take up collections for the relief of the sufferers, consisting of the 
following persons: E. Hulse, N. G. Pendleton, E. C. Smith, J. W. Gazlay, Jno. Wood, 
G. W. Jones, W. G. Orr, W. Holmes, A. Owen, P. Britt, J. Resor, 0. Lovell and G. C. 
Miller. 

A committee of vigilance was also appointed, whose duty it was to remove persons and 
goods surrounded with water. The following persons composed that committee: J. Pierce, 
Wm. Phillips, Sami. Fosdick, Wm. Stephenson, Chas. Fox, Henry Tatem, I. A. Butter¬ 
field, Jas. M’Intire, N. M. Whittemore, M. Coffin, Jas. M’Lean, J. Aumack, J. D. Gar¬ 
rard, A. G. Dodd and Fullom Perry. 

T. D. Carneal, J. M. Mason, J. C. Avery, Chas. Fox and R. Buchanan were appointed 
a committee to procure shelter for those whose houses were rendered untenable. On mo¬ 
tion, it was resolved that persons who may need assistance, be requested to make applica¬ 
tion to the council chamber, where members of the committee of vigilance shall rendezvous, 
and where one or more shall at all times remain for the purpose of affording relief. At a 
subsequent meeting, 20 were added to the committee of vigilance. 

It gives us pleasure to state, that the members of the foregoing committees most faith¬ 
fully discharged their respective duties. A provision house was opened by the committee 
of vigilance, on Fourth street, where meats, bread, wood, clothes, &c., were liberally given 
to all who applied. The ladies supported their well-known character for benevolence, by 
contributing clothing and food to the sufferers. The committee appointed to collect funds, 
found the citizens liberal in their donations. All who had vacant houses and rooms, cheer¬ 
fully appropriated them to the use of those made houseless. Public buildings, school houses, 
and basement stories of churches, were appropriated to this purpose. Mr. Brown of the 
ampitheatre, Mr. Franks, proprietor of the gallery of paintings, Mr. R. Letton, proprietor 
of the Museum, appropriated the entire proceeds of their houses, the first, on the night of 
17th ; the second, on the 18th, and the third, on that of the 20th, for the relief of the suf¬ 
ferers. The Beethoven society of sacred music also gave a concert for the same purpose, 
in the second Presbyterian church, on Fourth street, on the night of the 24th. 


Destruction of the Philanthropist newspaper printing office by a mob, July 30tA, 1836. 
—The paper had then been published in Cincinnati about three months, and was edited by 
James G. Birney. As early as the 14th of July, the press room was broken open and the 
press and materials defaced and destroyed. July 23d, a meeting of citizens was convened 
at the Lower Market house “ to decide whether they will permit the publication or distribution 
of abolition papers in this city.” This meeting appointed a committee, who opened a cor¬ 
respondence with the conductors of that print—the executive committee of the Ohio anti¬ 
slavery society—requesting them to discontinue its publication. This effort being unsuc¬ 
cessful, the committee of citizens published the correspondence, to which they appended a 
resolution, in one clause of which they stated, “ That in discharging their duties, they have 
used all the measures of persuasion and conciliation in their power. That their exertions 
have not been successful, the above correspondence will show. It only remains, then, in 
pursuance of their instructors, to publish their proceedings and adjourn without day. But 
ere they do this, they owe it themselves, and those whom they represent, to express their 
utmost abhorrence of every thing like violence ; and earnestly to implore their fellow citi¬ 
zens to abstain therefrom.” The sequel is thus given by a city print. 

On Saturday night, July 30th, very soon after dark a, concourse of citizens assembled at 
the corner of Main and Seventh streets, in this city, and upon a short consultation, broke 
open the printing office of the Philanthropist, the abolition paper, scattered the type into the 

29 



226 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


streets, tore down the presses and completely dismantled the office. It was owned by A. 
Pugh, a peaceable and orderly printer, who printed the Philanthropist for the anti-slavery 
society of Ohio. From the printing office, the crowd went to the house of A. Pugh, where 
they supposed there were other printing materials, but found none, nor offered any violence. 
Then to the Messrs. Donaldson’s, where only ladies were at home. The residence of 
Mr. Birney, the editor, was then visited ; no person was at home, but a youth, upon whose 
explanations the house was left undisturbed. A shout was raised for Dr. Colby’s ; and the 
concourse returned to Main street, proposed to pile up the contents of the office in the street 
and make a bonfire of them. A gentleman mounted the pile, and advised against burn¬ 
ing it, lest the houses near might take fire. A portion of the press was then dragged 
down Main street, broken up and thrown into the river. The Exchange was then visited 
and refreshments taken. After which, the concourse again went up Main street, to about 
opposite the Gazette office. Some suggestions were hinted that it should be demolished, 
but the hint was overruled. An attack was then made upon the residence of some blacks, 
in Church alley ; two guns were fired upon the assailants and they recoiled. It was sup¬ 
posed that one man was wounded, but that was not the case. It was some time before a 
rally could again be made, several voices declaring they did not wish to endanger them¬ 
selves. A second attack was made, the houses found empty and their interior contents de¬ 
stroyed. . . On the afternoon of Aug. 2d, pursuant to a call, a very large and respect¬ 

able meeting of citizens met at the court house, and passed a series of resolutions, the first of 
which was “ that this meeting deeply regret the cause of the recent occurrences, and en¬ 
tirely disapprove of mobs, or other unlawful assemblages.” The concluding resolution was 
approbatory of the course of the colonization society, and expressed an opinion that it 
was “ the only method of getting clear of slavery.” 


Biot of September, 1841.—This city has been in a most alarming condition for several 
days; and from until 8 o’clock on Friday evening, until 3 o’clock yesterday [Sunday] 
morning, almost entirely at the mercy of a lawless mob, ranging in number from 200 to 
1500. 

On Tuesday evening last, as we are informed, a quarrel took place on the comer of 
Sixth street and Broadway, between a party of Irishmen and some negroes: some two or 
three of each party were wounded. On Wednesday night, the quarrel was renewed in 
some way, and sometime after midnight a party of excited men, armed with clubs, &c., at¬ 
tacked a house occupied as a negro boarding-house on Macalister street, demanding the 
surrender of a negro, whom they said was secreted in the house, and uttering the most 
violent threats against the house and the negroes in general. Several of the adjoining 
houses were occupied by negro families. The violence increased and was resisted by those 
in or about the houses—an engagement took place, in which several were wounded on each 
side. On Thursday night, another rencontre took place in the neighborhood of the Lower 
Market, between some young men and boys and some negroes, in which one or two boys 
were badly wounded, as was supposed, with knives. On Friday evening, before 8 o’clock, 
a mob, the principal organization of which, we understand, took place in Kentucky, openly 
assembled in Fifth street market, unmolested by the police or citizens. They marched 
from their rendezvous towards Broadway and Sixth street, armed with clubs, stones, &c. 
Reaching the scene of operations with shouts and blasphemous imprecations, they attacked 
a negro confectionary in Broadway, next to the synagogue, and demolished the doors and 
windows. This attracted an immense crowd. About this time, before 9 o’clock, they were 
addressed by J. W. Piatt, who exorted them to peace and obedience to the law; but his 
voice was drowned by shouts and throwing of stones. The Mayor also attempted to ad¬ 
dress them. The savage yell was instantly raised : “ down with him! run him off!” were 
shouted and intermixed with horrid imprecations and exhortations to the mob to move on¬ 
ward. A large portion of the leading disturbers appeared to be strangers—some connected 
with river navigation and backed by boat hands of the lowest order. They advanced to 
the attack with stones, &c., and were repeatedly fired upon by the negroes. The mob 
scattered, but immediately rallied again, and again were in like manner repulsed. Men 
were wounded on both sides and carried off—and many reported dead. The negroes ral¬ 
lied several times, advanced upon the crowd, and most unjustifiably fired down the street 
into it, causing a great rush down the street. These things were repeated until past 1 
o’clock, when a party procured an iron six pounder from near the river, loaded with boiler 
punchings, &c., and hauled it to the ground, against the exhortations of the mayor and 
others. It was posted on Broadway and pointed down Sixth street. The yells continued. 



HAMILTON COUNTY. 


227 


vat there was a partial cessation of firing. Many of the negroes had fled to the hills. The 
attack upon the houses was recommenced with the firing of guns upon both sides, which 
continued during most of the night; and exaggerated rumors of the killed and wounded 
filled the streets. The cannon was discharged several times. About 2 o’clock, a portion 
of the military, upon the call of the mayor, proceeded to the scene of disorder and suc¬ 
ceeded in keeping the mob at bay. In the morning, and throughout the day, several 
blocks, including the battle-ground, were surrounded with sentinels and kept under martial 
law,—keeping within the negroes there, and adding to them such as were brought in during 
the day for protection. 

A meeting of citizens was held at the court house on Saturday morning, at which the 
mayor presided. This meeting was addressed by the mayor and others, and a series of 
resolutions passed discountenancing mobs—invoking the aid of the civil authorities to stay 
the violence, repudiating the doctrines of the abolitionists, etc., etc. The city council also 
held a special session, to concert measures to vindicate the majesty of the law and restore 
peace to the city. Intense excitement continued during the day, the mob and their leaders 
boldly occupying the streets without arrest. The negroes held a meeting in a church, and 
respectfully assured the mayor and citizens, that they would use every effort to conduct as 
orderly citizens, to suppress imprudent conduct among their own people, etc., etc. They 
expressed their readiness to conform to the law of 1807, and give bond, or to leave within 
a specified time—and tendered their thanks to the mayor, watch, officers and gentlemen of 
the city, for the efforts made to save their property, their lives, their wives and children. 

At 3 P. M., the mayor, sheriff, marshall and a portion of the police, proceeded to the 
battle-ground, and there, under the protection of the military, though in the presence of 
the mob, and so far controlled by them, as to prevent the taking away of any negroes upon 
their complying with the law. Several of the negroes gave bond and obtained'permis¬ 
sion to go away with their sureties, who were some of our most respectable citizens, 
but were headed even within the military sentinels, and compelled to return within the 
ground. It was resolved then to embody the male negroes, and march them to jail for se¬ 
curity, under the protection of the civil and military authority. From 250 to 300 were 
accordingly escorted to that place with difficulty, surrounded by the military and officers, 
and a dense mass of men, women and boys, confounding all distinction between the or¬ 
derly and disorderly, accompanied with deafening yells. They were safely lodged, and 
still remain in prison, separated from their families. The crowd was in that way dis¬ 
persed. 

The succeeding night, the military were ordered out, the firemen were out, clothed with 
authority as a police band. About eighty citizens enrolled themselves as assistants of the 
marshall. A troop of horse, and several companies of volunteer infantry continued on 
duty, until near midnight. Some were then permitted to sleep upon their arms ; others re¬ 
mained on duty until morning, guarding the jail, &c. 

As was anticipated, the mob efficiently organized, early commenced operations, dividing 
their force and making their attacks at different points, thus distracting the attention of the 
police. The first successful onset was made upon the printing office of the Philanthropist. 
They succeeded in entering the establishment, breaking up the press, and running with it 
amid savage yells, down through Main street to the river into which it was thrown. The 
military appeared in the alley near the office, interrupting the mob for a short time. They 
escaped through the bye-ways, and when the military retired, returned to their work of de¬ 
struction in the office, which they completed. Several houses were broken open in different 
parts of the city, occupied by negroes, and the windows, doors and furniture completely de¬ 
stroyed. Among these was the negro church on Sixth street. One of their last efforts 
was to fire or otherwise destroy the book establishment of Messrs. Truman & Smith, on 
Main street. From this they were driven by the police, and soon after, before daylight, 
dispersed from mere exhaustion. 

It is impossible to learn either the number of killed and wounded on either side, proba¬ 
bly several were killed and twenty or thirty variously wounded, though but few danger¬ 
ously. Several of the citizen-police were hurt with stones, &c .; the authorities succeeded 
in arresting about forty of the mob, who are now in prison. The mob was in many 
cases encouraged and led on by persons from Kentucky. About 11 o’clock on Saturday night, 
a bonfire was lighted on that side of the river, and loud shouts sent up, as if a great triumph 
had been achieved. In some cases the motions of the mob were directed and managed by 
mere boys, who suggested the points of attack, put the vote, declared the result and led the 
way! After all the negro men had been disarmed and committeed to prison for safe 
keeping, under a solemn pledge that their wives and children should be protected, a band 


228 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


•of white men were permitted to renew their brutal attacks upon these females and chil¬ 
dren. The excitement continued yesterday. The governor, who had arrived in town, 
issued his proclamation. The citizens rallied with spirit to aid the city authorities. Strong 
patroles of military and citizens, last night, prevented any further outbreak. 

Bank Mob, Jan. 11, 1842.—Monday evening, the Miami Exporting Company Bank as¬ 
signed its effects, and on Tuesday morning, (Jan. 11,) the bank of Cincinnati closed doors. 
Early in the morning, the crowd, in consequence of their failures, began to collect around 
the doors of these institutions, and by 11 o’clock, had broken into them, destroying all the 
movable property and whatever of books or papers could be laid hold of. About this time, 
ten of the city guards, headed by their brave captain, Mitchell, appeared, drove the rioters 
away, and, for a time, gallantly maintained their position; but they were called off. On 
retiring, they were assailed—they fired, and wounded some one or two persons. The mob 
had, with this exception, undisputed possession of the city, and commenced, first an attack 
upon Babes’ Exchange Bank, and after that, upon Lougee’s exchange office, both of which 
they destroyed, making havock of every thing which was at all destructible. 


Distressing Fire, Feb. 28fA, 1843.—On Saturday morning, about 5 o’clock, a fire broke 
out in the smoke-house of Messrs. Pugh & Alvord, at the corner of Walnut street and the 
canal, which, in its consequences, has been one of the most distressing that ever occurred in 
this city. The smoke-house was in the rear, and somewhat detached from the main build¬ 
ing, being connected with it only by a wooden door and narrow passage-way, through which 
the meat was usually wheeled. It was thought the fire could be confined to the former, and 
for that purpose the pork-house was closed as tight as possible, by shutting all the doors and 
windows, to exclude a rush of air to feed the flames. In the course of half an hour, the 
main building was filled with smoke, rarified air and inflammable gas from the smoke¬ 
house ; and when the flames burst through the wooden door connecting the two buildings, 
an instantaneous roar of flame was perceived, and in the twinkling of an eye, the whole of 
this spacious, substantial building was a mass of ruins. The whole roof was lifted in the air 
and thrown into the streets in large fragments—the second story walls, on the north and 
south sides, were thrown down, and the whole eastern end of both stories fronting on Wal¬ 
nut street, blown into the streets from its foundation up. The appearance of the explosion 
was awfully terrific, and its consequences fatal to several of our most estimable citizens. 
We annex the names of the killed and severely wounded, as far as we can now ascertain 
them. Killed —Joseph Bonsall, Caleb W. Taylor, H. S. Edmands, J. S. Chamberlain, 
H. 0. Merrill, John Ohe, a German laborer, with two or three other German laborers. 
Wounded severely —George Shillito, H. Thorpe, T. S. Shaeffer, Mr. Alvord, (of the firm 
of Pugh & Alvord,) Samuel Schooley, Warren G. Finch, John Blakemore, Lewis Wisby, 
John M. Vansickle, Joseph Trefts, A. Oppenhermer, Jas. Tryatt, Robt. Rice, William H. 
Goodloe. 

A few minutes before the explosion, the smoke settled to the ground around the corner of 
the building, on the canal and Walnut street fronts, which caused the removal of the masses 
of people which filled those spaces, unconscious of danger. But for this, the force of the ex¬ 
plosion being in that direction, the destruction of life would have been frightfully extensive. 

On Sunday morning, a special meeting of the city council was called, and in obedience to 
one of the resolutions passed, the mayor issued a proclamation, requesting the citizens to 
suspend their business on Monday, the 27th inst., and attend the funerals of the deceased. 
On Monday, the court of common pleas adjourned for this purpose, shops were closed, and 
the business of the day was set aside. The bells were tolled, and little was done save to aid 
in performing the last sad rites of the dead. They had fallen in the public service, and the 
public mind was anxious to testify to their virtues and bespeak the sorrow felt for the com¬ 
mon loss. Never, indeed, did we ever observe a deeper solemnity than pervaded the im¬ 
mense masses who attended the funeral services of Chamberlain and Edmands. Close 
around their biers, pressed the brave firemen who had stood by their side whenever their 
common services were required ; and as the men of God lifted up their voices in prayer, 
and spoke of the virtues of the dead, their emotion was too strong to be suppressed; and as 
they stood at the altar and the grave, they gave strong utterance to their own and the 
public sorrow. And thus were these useful citizens and worthy men borne to their long 
home. 



HAMILTON COUNTY. 


229 



The engraving shows 
the old Baptist church, 
at Columbia, as it ap¬ 
peared in 1830, even to 
the loose weather-board¬ 
ing. It was taken down 
in 1835, but we have not 
the date of its erection. 
The engraving is copied 
from one in the Ameri¬ 
can Pioneer, where it is 
stated that this was the 
first house of worship 
built in Ohio, which, from 
some evidence produ¬ 
ced below, we think is 
an error. The society 
which worshipped in it, 
was constituted in 1790, 
by Dr. Stephen Gano. 
We have previously 
„ , .. slightly noticed the his- 

Oli Baptist Church at Columbia. t0 ° y 0 f the settlement at 

Columbia, the second in Ohio, and now present, in addition, some 
reminiscences from the narrative of the late 0. M. Spencer, who 
was there as early as December, 1790. 


It is, perhaps, unknown to many, that the broad and extensive plain stretching along the 
Ohio from the Crawfish to the mouth, and for three miles up the Little Miami, and now 
divided into farms, highly cultivated, was the ancient site of Columbia, a town laid out by 
Major Benjamin Stites, its original proprietor; and by him and others once expected to be¬ 
come a large city, the great capital of the west. From Crawfish, the small creek forming 
its northwestern boundary, more than one mile up the Ohio, and extending back about 
three-fourths of a mile, and half way up the high hill which formed a part of its eastern and 
northern limits, the ground was laid off into blocks, containing each eight lots of half an 
acre, bounded by streets intersected at right angles. The residue of the plain was divided 
into lots of four and five acres, for the accommodation of the town. Over this plain, on our 
arrival, we found scattered about fifty cabins, flanked by a small stockade nearly half a mile 
below the mouth of the Miami, together with a few block-houses for the protection of the 
inhabitants, at suitable distances along the bank of the Ohio. 

Fresh in my remembrance is the rude log-house, the first humble sanctuary of the first 
settlers of Columbia, standing amidst the tall forest trees, on the beautiful knoll, where now 
[1834] is a grave-yard, and the ruins of a Baptist meeting-house of later years. There, 
on the holy Sabbath, we were wont to assemble to hear the word of life ; but our fathers 
met, with their muskets and rifles, prepared for action, and ready to repel any attack of the 
enemy. And while the watchman on the walls of Zion was uttering his faithful and pa¬ 
thetic warning, the sentinels without, at a few rods distance, with measured step, were now 
pacing their walks, and now standing and with strained eyes endeavoring to pierce through 
the distance, carefully scanning every object that seemed to have life or motion. 

The first clergyman I there heard preach was Mr. Gano, father of the late Gen. Gano, of 
this city, then a captain, and one of the earliest settlers of Columbia. Never shall I forget 
that holy and venerable man, with locks white with years, as with a voice tremulous with 
age, he ably expounded the word of truth. 

I well recollect, that in 1791, so scarce and dear was flour, that the little that could be 
afforded in families, was laid by to be used only in sickness, or for the entertainment of 




















230 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


friends; and although com was then abundant, there was but one mill, (Wickerham’s,) a 
floating mill, on the Little Miami, near where Turpin’s now [1834] stands: it was built in 
a small flat boat tied to the bank, its wheel turning slowly with the natural current running 
between the flat and a small pirogue anchored in the stream, and on which one end of its 
shaft rested ; and having only one pair of small stones, it was at best barely sufficient to 
supply meal for the inhabitants of Columbia and the neighboring families; and sometimes, 
from low water and other unfavorable circumstances, it was of little use, so that we were 
obliged to supply the deficiency from hand-mills, a most laborious mode of grinding. 

The winter of 1791-2, was followed by an early and delightful spring ; indeed, I have 
often thought that our first western winters were much milder, our springs earlier, and our 
autumns longer than they now are. On the last of February, some of the trees were putting 
forth their foliage ; in March, the red bud, the hawthorn and the dog-wood, in full bloom, 
checkered the hills, displaying their beautiful colors of rose and lily; and in April, the 
ground was covered with May apple, bloodroot, ginseng, violets, and a great variety of 
herbs and flowers. Flocks of parroquets were seen, decked in their rich plumage of green 
and gold. Birds of various species, and of every hue, were flitting from tree to tree, and 
the beautiful redbird, and the untaught songster of the west, made the woods vocal with 
their melody. Now might be heard the plaintive wail of the dove, and now the rumbling 
drum of the partridge, or the loud gobble of the turkey. Here might be seen the clumsy 
bear, doggedly moving off, or urged by pursuit into a laboring gallop, retreating to his cita¬ 
del in the top of some lofty tree; or approached suddenly, raising himself erect in the 
attitude of defence, facing his enemy and waiting his approach ; there the timid deer, watch¬ 
fully resting, or cautiously feeding, or aroused from his thicket, gracefully bounding off, 
then stopping, erecting his stately head and for a moment gazing around, or snuffing the 
air to ascertain his enemy, instantly springing off, clearing logs and bushes at a bound, and 
soon distancing his pursuers. It seemed an earthly paradise ; and but for apprehension of 
the wily copperhead, who lay silently coiled among the leaves, or beneath the plants, wait¬ 
ing to strike his victim ; the horrid rattle-snake, who more chivalrous, however, with head 
erect amidst its ample folds, prepared to dart upon his foe, generously with the loud noise of 
his rattle, apprised him of danger; and the still more fearful and insidious savage, who, 
crawling upon the ground, or noiselessly approaching behind trees and thickets, sped the 
deadly shaft or fatal bullet, you might have fancied you were in the confines of Eden or the 
borders of Elysium. 

At this delightful season, the inhabitants of our village went forth to their labor, inclosing 
their fields, which the spring flood had opened, tilling their ground, and planting their corn 
for their next year’s sustenance. I said, went forth, for their principal corn-field was dis¬ 
tant from Columbus about one and a half miles east, and adjoining the extensive plain on 
which the town stood. That large tract of alluvial ground, still known by the name of 
Turkey Bottom, and which, lying about fifteen feet below the adjoining plain, and annu¬ 
ally overflowed, is yet very fertile, was laid off into lots of five acres each, and owned by 
the inhabitants of Columbia ; some possessing one, and others two or more lots ; and to 
save labor, was enclosed with one fence. Here the men generally worked in companies, 
exchanging labor, or in adjoining fields, with their fire-arms near them, that in case of an 
attack they might be ready to unite for their common defence. Here, their usual annual 
crop of corn from ground very ordinarily cultivated, was eighty bushels per acre ; and some 
lots, well tilled, produced a hundred, and in very favorable seasons, a hundred and ten 
bushels to the acre. An inhabitant of New England, New Jersey, or some portions of 
Maryland, would scarcely think it credible, that in hills four feet apart, were four or five 
stalks, one and a half inches in diameter, and fifteen feet in height, bearing each two or 
three ears of corn, of which some were so far from the ground, that to pull them an ordi¬ 
nary man was obliged to stand on tiptoe. 

North Bend is situated 16 miles below Cincinnati, and 4 from the 
Indiana line, at the northernmost point of a bend in the Ohio river. 
This place, which was of note in the early settlement of the country, 
has in later years derived its interest from having been the residence 
of Gen. Wm. H. Harrison, and the spot where rests his mortal re¬ 
mains. The family mansion stands on a level plat, about 300 yards 
back from the Ohio, amid scenery of a pleasing and retired character. 
The eastern half of the mansion, that is, all that part on the reader’s 
right, from the door in the main building, is built of logs; but the 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


231 


whole of the building being clapboarded and painted white, has the 
same external appearance. The wings were alike: a part of the 
southern one was destroyed by fire since the decease of its illus¬ 
trious occupant, a memento of which disaster is shown by the naked 



Residence of the late President Harrison, at North Bend. 

chimney, that rises like a monument over the ruins. The dwelling 
is respectably, though plainly furnished, and is at present occupied 
by the widow of the lamented Harrison, long distinguished for the 
virtues which adorn the female character. 

About a quarter of a mile south of the family mansion, and per¬ 
haps half that distance from the river, is the tomb of Harrison. It 



Tomb of President Harrison. 

stands upon the summit of a small oval-shaped hill, rising about 100 
feet from the plain, ornamented by a few scattering trees, and com¬ 
manding a view of great beauty. The tomb is of brick, and is 
























232 


HAMILTON COUNTY 


entered by a plain, unpainted door, on its western end. There is 
no inscription upon it, nor is any required to mark the resting place 
of Harrison. 

The annexed sketch of General Harrison, is mainly derived from 
that published in the National Portrait Gallery, in 1836. 

William Henry Harrison was born at Berkley, the family seat of his father, on James 
river, 25 miles from Richmond, Virginia, in 1773. 

He was the youngest of three sons of Benjamin 
Harrison, a descendant of the celebrated leader of 
the same name in the wars of Cromwell. Benja¬ 
min Harrison occupied a conspicuous part in our 
own revolutionary struggle, and was one of the Facsimile of Harrison s signature. 
most active of that daring band who set the ball in motion. He represented Virginia in 
congress, in 1774, ’75, and ’76. He was chairman of the committee of the whole house, 
when the declaration of independence was agreed to, and was one of its signers. He 
was elected governor of Virginia, and was one of the most popular officers that ever filled 
the executive chair. He died in 1791. 

Wm. Henry Harrison was early placed at Hampden Sydney College, which he left at 17 
years of age, his mind well imbued with classical literature, and deeply impressed with ad¬ 
miration of the principles of republican Greece and Rome. In obedience to the wishes 
of his father, whose hospitable and liberal conduct through life prevented him from prom¬ 
ising wealth to his son, he entered on the study of medicine ; and after a short preparatory 
course, he repaired, in the spring of 1791, to Philadelphia, to prosecute his studies with 
greater advantage. The death of his father immediately after his arrival, checked his pro¬ 
fessional aspirations; and the “ note of preparation” which was sounding through the 
country, for a campaign against the Indians of the west, decided his destiny. He resolved 
to enter into the service of his government, and to create a name for himself worthy of his 
father. His guardian, the celebrated Robert Morris, opposed his wishes with all the elo¬ 
quence of his great mind; but it was in vain that he placed the enterprise before the 
enthusiastic youth in all its hardships and privations. In order to deter him from his pro¬ 
ject, he painted an Indian war in a remote and untried wilderness in the darkest colors; he 
spoke of victory, against such foes, as not involving glory; but of defeat, as insuring dis¬ 
grace. The remonstrances of his friend and guardian were fruitless, and General Wash¬ 
ington at length yielded to the importunities of the youth; he presented him with an 
ensign’s commission. With characteristic ardor he departed for Fort Washington, now 
Cincinnati; where, however, he arrived too late to participate in the unfortunate campaign. 
The fatal 4th of November had passed, and he was only in time to learn the earliest intel¬ 
ligence of the death of Butler, and of Oldham, and of the unparalleled massacre of the army 
of St. Clair. 

The return of the broken troops had no effect in damping the zeal of young Harrison. 
He devoted himself ardently to the study of the theory of the higher tactics; his education 
gave him advantages possessed by few young soldiers of that day ; and when, in the suc¬ 
ceeding year, the gallant Wayne assumed the command, Ensign Harrison was imme¬ 
diately noticed by this experienced commander, and selected by him for one of his aids. 
The judicious movements of the new army, and the success which crowned the campaign 
under Wayne, are a brilliant portion of our history. Harrison distinguished himself hand¬ 
somely in Wayne’s victory, and his chief did him the justice to name him specially in the 
official report of the engagement. 

After the treaty of Greenville, 1795, Captain Harrison was left in command of Fort 
Washington; and shortly after the departure of General Wayne for the Atlantic states, he 
married the daughter of Judge Symmes, the proprietor of the Miami purchase. The 
writer of this brief sketch cannot let the opportunity slip, without offering a passing tribute 
to the virtues of this estimable woman. She is distinguished for her benevolence and her 
piety; all who know her, view her with esteem and affection; and her whole course 
through life, in all its relations, has been characterized by those qualifications that com¬ 
plete the character of an accomplished matron. 

The idleness and dissipation of a garrison life comported neither with the taste nor active 
temper of Captain Harrison. He resigned his commission, and commenced his civil career, 
at the age of twenty-four years, as secretary of the north-western territory. His capacity 
was soon noticed by the leaders in the new territory, and he was elected, in 1799, the first 
delegate in congress for that extensive region, now comprising the states of Ohio, Indiana, 





HAMILTON COUNTY. 


233 


Illinois, and the territory of Michigan. The first and general object of his attention as a 
representative, was an alteration of the land system of the territory. The law, as it then 
existed, ordained that not less than four thousand acres (except in particular cases of frac¬ 
tions on the banks of rivers) could be sold at once. The operation of such an ordinance 
must have been fatal to that class of population, whose industry and labor have since caused 
the country to advance with such rapid strides to wealth and greatness; it was alone calcu¬ 
lated to benefit the speculator and rich monopolist. He was appointed chairman of the 
committee on lands, (the only instance, it is believed, in the history of our legislation, in 
which a delegate was so distinguished,) and with the aid of the able men who cooperated 
with him, he presented the celebrated land report, based on his own previous motion. A 
bill was framed, and after undergoing some amendments in the senate, was passed into a 
law, by which one half of the public lands were divided into sections of six hundred and 
forty acres, and the other into half sections of three hundred and twenty acres. The old 
system of forfeiture for non-payment was abolished, and payment ordered to be made, one 
fourth in hand, and the balance at the end of two, threq, and four years, allowing still one 
year, after the expiration of the fourth year, to enable the purchaser to extricate himself, if 
necessary. This was a point gained, although it was not all the delegate contended for. 
To this measure is to be imputed the rapid settlement of the country; and if Mr. Harrison 
had then been called from this world, without rendering any other service to his country, 
he would richly have merited the title of benefactor of the territory northwest of the Ohio. 

The reputation acquired by the young delegate from his legislative success, created a 
party in his favor, who intimated a desire that he should supersede the venerable governor 
of the territory. But Mr. Harrison checked the development of this feeling as soon as it 
was made known to him. He cherished too high a veneration for the pure and patriotic 
St. Clair; he had too just an estimate of the splendid talents of the governor, and too 
much sympathy for the war-worn, though sometimes unfortunate hero, to sanction an 
attempt, which, whether successful or not, would have inflicted one more pang in the bosom 
of the veteran. A soldier can best feel for a soldier; he declined the interference of his 
friends, and the subject was dropped. But when, shortly after, Indiana was erected into a 
separate territory, he was appointed by Mr. Adams the first governor. Previously, how¬ 
ever, to quitting congress, he was present at the discussion of the bill for the settlement of 
Judge Symmes’ purchase ; and although this gentleman was his father-in-law, he took an 
active part in favor of those individuals who had purchased from him before he had ob¬ 
tained his patent. It was viewed as a matter of doubt, whether those who had sued the 
judge in the courts of common law, would be entitled to the remedy in equity against him. 
He went before the committee in person, and urged them to insert a provision in their favor. 
Nor did he desist until assured by the attorney general and Mr. Harper, that these persons 
came fully under the provisions of the act as it then stood. This was the impulse of stern 
duty; for at the moment he was thus engaged, he considered himself as jeoparding a large 
pecuniary interest of his father-in-law. 

In 1801, Governor Harrison entered upon the duties of his new office, at the old mil¬ 
itary post of Vincennes. The powers with which he was vested by law have never, since 
the organization of our government, been conferred upon any other officer,* civil or mil¬ 
itary ; and the arduous character of the duties he had to perform, can only be appreciated 
by those who are acquainted with the savage and cunning temper of the northwestern 
Indians; with the genius of the early pioneers, and the nature of a frontier settlement. 
The dangers of such actions as the battle of Tippecanoe, the defence of Fort Meigs, and 
the battle of the Thames, are appreciated and felt by all; and the victories which were 
consequent upon them have crowned the victors with a never fading wreath: but these 
acts, brilliant as they were, fade when put in comparison with the unremitting labor and 
exposure to which, for many years after the organization of the first grade of territorial 
government, the new executive was exposed. The whole territory consisted of three settle¬ 
ments, so widely separated that it was impossible for them to contribute to their mutual 
defence or encouragement. The first was Clarke’s grant at the falls of Ohio ; the second, 
the old French establishment at Vincennes; and the third extended from Kaskaskia to Ka- 
hokia, on the Mississippi; the whole comprising a population of about five thousand souls. 
The territory thus defenceless, presented a frontier, assailable almost at every point, on the 
northeast, north, and northwest boundaries. Numerous tribes of warlike Indians were 
thickly scattered throtighout the northern portion of the territory, and far beyond its limits. 


* Among his duties was that of commissioner to treat with the Indians. In this ca¬ 
pacity, he concluded fifteen treaties, and purchased their title to upwards of seventy millions 
of acres of land. 


30 



234 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


whose hostile feelings were constantly inflamed by the intrigues of British agents and 
traders, if not by the immediate influence of the English government itself, and not un- 
frequently by the uncontrollable outrages of the American hunters themselves ; a circum¬ 
stance which it always has been found impossible to prevent, in the early settlement of the 
west. Governor Harrison applied himself with characteristic energy and skill. It seems 
truly miraculous to us, when we retrospect into the early history of his government, that 
he should have been able to keep down Indian invasion in the infant state of the territory, 
seeing the great capacity the savages displayed for harassing him at a period when his re¬ 
sources and means had so much increased. The fact proclaims loudly the talents of the 
chief. Justice tempered by mildness ; conciliation and firmness, accompanied by a never 
slumbering watchfulness; were the means he used. These enabled him to surmount diffi¬ 
culties, under which an ordinary capacity must have been prostrated. The voluminous cor¬ 
respondence of Governor Harrison with Mr. Jefferson, from 1802 till 1809, is a recorded 
testimony of the ability and success of his administration. 

During the year 1811, however, the intrigues of British agents operating on the passions 
of the Indians, brought affairs to a crisis which rendered hostilities unavoidable. Tecum- 
seh, and his prophet brother, had been laboring unceasingly, since 1805, to bring about this 
result. Harrison called upon Colonel Boyd, of the 4th United States regiment, then at 
Pittsburg, (who immediately joined him,) and embodied a militia force as strong as the 
emergency would permit. To these were added a small but gallant band of chivalrous 
volunteers from Kentucky, consisting of about sixty-five individuals. With these he com¬ 
menced his march towards the prophet’s town at Tippecanoe. On the 6th of November 
he arrived in sight of the Indian village, and in obedience to his orders, made several fruit¬ 
less attempts to negotiate with the savages. Finding it impossible to bring them to any 
discussion, he resolved to encamp for the night, under a promise from the chiefs to hold a 
conference next day. He sent forward Brigade Major Clarke and Major Waller Taylor, 
to select a proper position for the encampment. These officers shortly after returned, and 
reported that they had found a situation well calculated for the purpose, and on examina¬ 
tion, the commander approved of it. Subsequent examination has proved that the ground 
was admirably adapted to baffle the success of a sudden attack, the only kind which the 
great experience of Harrison assured him would be attempted. The men reposed upon the 
spot which each, individually, should occupy, in case of attack. The event justified the 
anticipations of the chief. On the morning of the 7th, before daylight, the onset was 
made with the usual yells and impetuosity. But the army was ready ; Harrison had risen 
some time before, and had roused the officers near him. Our limits do not permit us to 
enter into a detail of the action ; the arrangement of the troops was masterly, and spoke 
the well educated and experienced soldier. The Indians fought with their usual despera¬ 
tion, and maintained their ground for some time with extraordinary courage. Victory de¬ 
clared in favor of discipline, at the expense, however, of some of the most gallant spirits 
of the age. Among the slain were Colonels Daveis and Owen, of Kentucky, and Captain 
Spencer, of Indiana. Governor Harrison received a bullet through his stock, without 
touching his neck. The legislature of Kentucky, at its next session, while in mourning 
for her gallant dead, passed the following resolution, viz: 

“ Resolved, That Governor William H. Harrison has behaved like a hero, a patriot and 
general; and that for his cool, deliberate, skillful and gallant conduct, in the battle of Tip¬ 
pecanoe, he well deserves the thanks of the nation.” 

From this period, until after the declaration of war against England, Governor Harrison 
was unremittingly engaged in negotiating with the Indians, and preparing to resist a more 
extended attack from them. In August, 1812, he received the brevet of major general in 
the Kentucky militia, to enable him to command the forces marching to relieve Detroit. 
He immediately applied himself to the proper organization of his army on the northwestern 
frontier. The surrender of Hull changed the face of affairs; he was appointed a major 
general in the army of the United States, and his duties embraced a larger sphere. Every 
thing was in confusion, and every thing was to be done ; money, arms and men were to be 
raised. It is under circumstances like these that the talents of a great general are devel¬ 
oped more powerfully than in conducting a battle. To do justice to this part of the biog¬ 
raphy of Harrison, requires a volume of itself. Becoming stronger from reverses, collecting 
munitions of war, and defending Fort Meigs, were the prominent features of his opera¬ 
tions, until we find him in pursuit of Proctor, on the Canadian shore. On the 5th of 
October, 1813, he brought the British army and their Indian allies, under Proctor and 
Tecumseh, to action, near the river Thames. The victory achieved by militia over the 
disciplined troops of England, on this brilliant day, was decisive ; and like the battle of the 
Cowpens, in the war of the revolution, spread joy and animation over the whole union. 


HAMILTON COUNTY, 


235 


For this important action, congress presented General Harrison with a gold medal. The 
success of the day is mainly attributable to the novel expedient of charging through the 
British lines with mounted infantry. The glory of originating this manoeuvre belongs ex¬ 
clusively to General Harrison. 

The northwestern frontier being relieved, and important aid given to that of Niagara, 
General Harrison left his troops at Sacket’s Harbor, under the command of Colonel Smith, 
and departed for Washington by the way of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. On 
the whole route he was received with enthusiasm, and honored with the highest marks of 
distinction that can be offered to a citizen bv a republican people. 

Owing to a misunderstanding between Mr. Secretary Armstrong and himself. General 
Harrison resigned his commission in the spring of 1814. Mr. Madison sincerely deplored 
this step, and assured Governor Shelby, in a letter written immediately after the resigna¬ 
tion, “ that it would not have been accepted had he been in Washington.” It was received 
and accepted by Secretary Armstrong, while the president was absent at the springs. 

General Harrison retired to his farm at North Bend, in Ohio, from which he was suc¬ 
cessively called by the people, to represent them in the congress of the United States, and 
in the legislature of the state. In 1824-5, he was elected to the senate of the United 
States; and in 1828, he was appointed minister to Columbia, which station he held until 
he was recalled by President Jackson, not for any alledged fault, but in consequence of some 
difference of views on the Panama question. General Harrison again returned to the pur¬ 
suits of agriculture at North Bend. In 1834, on the almost unanimous petition of the cit¬ 
izens of the county, he was appointed prothonotary of the court of Hamilton county. 

In 1840, General Harrison was called by the people of the United States to preside over 
the country as its chief magistrate. His election was a triumphant one ; of 294 votes for 
president, he received 234. From the time when he was first nominated for the office 
until his death, he had been rising in public esteem and confidence ; he entered upon the 
duties of his office with an uncommon degree of popularity, and a high expectation was 
cherished that his administration would be honorable to himself and advantageous to the 
country. His death, which took place April 4th, 1841, just a month after his inauguration, 
caused a deep sensation throughout the country. He was the first president of the United 
States that had died in office. The members of his cabinet, in their official notification 
of the event, said: “ The people of the United States, overwhelmed like ourselves by an 
event so unexpected and so melancholy, will derive consolation from knowing that his 
death was calm and resigned, as his life had been patriotic, useful and distinguished ; and 
that the last utterance of his lips expressed a fervent desire for the perpetuity of the consti¬ 
tution and the preservation of its true principles. In death, as in life, the happiness of 
his country was uppermost in his thoughts.” 

President Harrison was distinguished by a generosity and liberality of feeling which was 
exercised beyond what strict justice to himself and family should have permitted. With 
ample opportuity for amassing immense wealth, he ever disdained to profit by his public 
situation for private emolument. His theory was too rigidly honest to permit him to engage 
in speculation, and his chivalry was too sensitive to permit him to use the time belonging 
to his country, for private benefit. After nearly fifty years devotion to his duties in the 
highest stations, he left at his death but little more to his family than the inheritance of an 
unsullied reputation. 

About 30 rods in a westerly direction from the tomb of Harrison, 
on an adjacent hill, in a family cemetery, is the grave of Judge 
Symmes. It is covered by a tablet, laid horizontally upon brick 
work, slightly raised from the ground. On it is the following 
inscription:— 

Here rest the remains of John Cleves Symmes, who, at 
the foot of these hills, made the first settlement between 
the Miami rivers. Born on Long Island, state of New 
York, July 21st, A. D. 1742. Died at Cincinnati, Feb¬ 
ruary 26, A. D. 1814. 

Mr. Symmes was born at Riverhead, on Long Island, and early 
in life was employed in land surveying, and in teaching school. He 
served in the war of the revolution, though in what capacity is not 
known, and was in the battle of Saratoga. Having removed to 



236 


HAMILTON COUNTY. 


New Jersey, he became chief justice of the state, and at one time 
represented it in congress. As early as 1787, and at the same time 
with the agents of the Ohio company, he made application to con¬ 
gress, in the name of himself and associates, for the purchase of a 
large tract of land lying between the two Miamies. “ The price 
was 66 cents per acre, to be paid in United States military land 



j Block House , near North Bend. 

warrants, and certificates of debt due from the United States to 
individuals. The payments were divided into six annual instal¬ 
ments. His associates were principally composed of the officers of 
the New Jersey line who had served in the war of the revolution. 
Among them were General Dayton and Elias Boudinot, D. D. His 
first contract was for one million of acres, made in October, 1788, 
but owing to the difficulty of making the payments, and the embar¬ 
rassments growing out of the Indian war, the first contract was not 
fulfilled, and a new one was made for two hundred and forty-eight 
thousand acres, in May, 1794, and a patent issued to him and his 
associates in September following.”* Meanwhile, in the spring of 
1789, Judge Symmes had located himself at North Bend, where he 
laid out “ Symmes’ city,” the fate of which has already been stated. 
The residence of Judge Symmes stood about a mile northwest of 
his grave. It was destroyed by fire in March, 1811, and all his val¬ 
uable papers consumed. It was supposed to have been the act of an 
individual, out of revenge for his refusal to vote for him as a justice 
of the peace. At the treaty of Greenville, the Indians told him and 
others, that in the war, they had frequently brought up their rifles 
to shoot him, and then recognizing him, refrained from pulling the 
trigger. This was in consequence of his previous kindness to them, 
and speaks volumes in praise of his benevolence. 

On the farm of the late Wm. Henry Harrison, jr., three miles 


* Dr. S. P. Hildreth, in the American Pioneer. 








IIANCOCK COUNTY. 


237 


below North Bend, and two from the Indiana line, was a settlement 
made at the same time with North Bend. It was called the Sugar 
Camp settlement, and was composed of about thirty houses. The 
settlers there erected a block house, near the Ohio river, as a pro¬ 
tection against the Indians. It is now standing, though in a more 
dilapidated condition than represented in the engraving. It is built 
of logs, in the ordinary manner of block houses, the distinguishing 
feature of which is, that from the height of a man’s shoulder, the 
building, the rest of the way up, projects a foot or two from the 
lower part, leaving, at the point of junction between the two parts, 
a cavity, through which to thrust rifles, on the approach of enemies. 

There are several villages in the county, each containing from 
200 to 700 inhabitants. They are Harrison, 20 miles from Cin¬ 
cinnati, on the Indiana line; Mt. Pleasant, on the west turnpike to 
Hamilton, 10 miles from C.; Springfield, on the east turnpike to Ham¬ 
ilton, 15 from C.; Montgomery, 13 miles from C., on the Lebanon 
road; Miami, 14 miles from C., on the road to Brookville, Indiana ; 
Reading 10, and Sharon, 13 from C., each on the Lebanon turnpike ; 
and Newtown, 10 from C., on the Batavia road. Elizabethtown, 
Cheviot, Cleve, Warsaw, Sharpsburg, Madisonville, Cummingsville, 
Burlington and Columbia are small places. About six miles north 
of Cincinnati, in a beautiful situation among the hills, has lately been 
built the Farmer’s Academy, a chartered institution. 


HANCOCK. 

Hancock was formed, April 1st, 1820, and named from John Han¬ 
cock, first president of the revolutionary congress. The surface is 
level; the soil is black loam, mixed with sand, and based on lime¬ 
stone and very fertile. Its settlers are generally of Pennsylvania 
origin. The principal products are pork, wheat, corn, oats and 
maple sugar. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with 


their population. 

Amanda, 490 Findlay, 1024 Portage, 675 

Big Lick, 431 Jackson, 631 Richland, 332 

Blanchard, 629 Liberty, 592 Ridge, 479 

Cass, 588 Marion, 707 Union, 637 

Delaware, 532 Orange, 314 VanBuren, 432 


Eagle, 524 Pleasant, 252 Washington, 830 
The population of Hancock in 1830, was 813; and in 1840, 10,099, 
or 17 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The central and southern part of this county is watered by 
Blanchard’s fork of the Auglaize and its branches. The Shawnee 
name of this stream was Sho-po-qua-te-sepe , or Tailor’s river. It 
seems that Blanchard, from whom this stream was named, was a 
tailor, or one that sewed garments. He was a native of France, 
and a man of intelligence; but no part of his history could be ob- 



238 


HANCOCK COUNTY. 


tained from him. He doubtless fled his country for some offense 
against its laws, intermarried with a Shawnee woman, and after liv¬ 
ing here thirty years, died in 1802, at or near the site of Fort Find¬ 
lay. When the Shawnese emigrated to the west, seven of his chil¬ 
dren were living, one of whom was a chief.* . In the war of 1812, 
a road was cut through this county, over which the troops for the 
northwest passed. Among these was the army of Hull, which was 
piloted by Isaac Zane, M’Pherson and Robert Armstrong. 



View in Findlay. 

Findlay, the county seat, is on Blanchard’s fork, 90 miles northeast 
of Columbus. It contains 1 Presbyterian and 1 Methodist church, 
1 academy, 2 newspaper printing offices, 13 mercantile stores, 1 
foundery, 1 clothing, 1 flouring and 1 grist mill, and 112 families. 
A branch railroad has been surveyed from Cary, on the Mad river 
railroad, to this place, a distance of 16 miles, which will probably 
ere long be constructed. Findlay derives its name from Fort Find¬ 
lay, built in the late war by James Findlay, who was a citizen of 
Cincinnati, a colonel in the late war, and afterwards a member of 
congress. This fort stood on the south bank of Blanchard’s fork, 
just west of the present bridge. It was a stockade of about fifty 
yards square, with block houses at its corners, and a ditch in front. 
It was used as a depot for military stores and provisions. 

About 9 o’clock one dark and windy night in the late war, Capt. Wm. Oliver, (now of 
Cincinnati,) in company with a Kentuckian, left Fort Meigs for Fort Findlay, on an er¬ 
rand of importance, the distance being about 33 miles. They had scarcely started on their 
dreary and perilous journey, when they unexpectedly came upon an Indian camp, around 
the fires of which, the Indians were busy cooking their suppers. Disturbed by the noise 
of their approach, the savages sprang up and ran towards them. At this they reined their 
horses into the branches of a fallen tree. Fortunately the horses, as if conscious of the 
danger, stood perfectly still, and the Indians passed around the tree, without making any 
discovery in the thick darkness. At this juncture, Oliver and his companion put spurs to 
their horses and dashed forwards into the woods, through which they passed all the way 
to their point of destination. They arrived safely, but with their clothes completely tom 
off by the brambles and bushes, and their bodies bruised all over by contusions against the 
trees. They had scarcely arrived in the fort, when the Indians in pursuit made their ap¬ 
pearance, but too late, for their prey had escaped. 


* Col. John Johnston. 






















HARDIN COUNTY. 


239 


The town of Findlay was first laid out by Ex-Gov. Joseph Vance 
and Elnathan Corry, in 1821, and in 1829 relaid out, lots sold and a 
settlement systematically commenced. In the fall of 1821, how¬ 
ever, Wilson Vance (brother of the above) moved into Findlay with 
his family. There were then some ten or fifteen Wyandot families 
in the place, who had made improvements. They were a tempe¬ 
rate, fine-looking people, and friendly to the first settlers. There 
were at this time but six other white families in the county, besides 
that of Mr. Vance. Mr. V. is now the oldest settler in the county. 
For the first two or three years, all the grain which he used, he 
brought in teams from his brothers’ mills in Champaign county, 
about forty miles distant. To this should be excepted some little 
corn which he bought of the Indians, for which he occasionally paid 
as high as $1 per bushel, and ground it in a hand-mill. 

There are some curiosities in the town and county, worthy of 
note. At the south end of Findlay are two gas wells. From one 
of them, the gas has been conducted by a pipe into a neighboring 
dwelling, and used for light. A short distance west of the bridge, 
on the north bank of Blanchard’s fork at Findlay, is a chalybeate 
spring of excellent medicinal qualities, and from which issues inflam¬ 
mable gas. In the eastern part of the town, is a mineral spring pos¬ 
sessing similar qualities. Three miles south of Findlay, is a syca¬ 
more of great height, and 34 feet in circumference at its base. Ten 
miles below Findlay, on the west bank of Blanchard’s fork, on the road 
to Defiance, are two sugar maple trees, 30 feet distant at their base, 
which, about 60 feet up, unite and form one trunk, and thus continue 
from thence up, the body of one actually growing into the other, so 
that each loose their identity and form one entire tree. 

Mount Blanchard, Williamstown, Canonsburg, Benton, Van Bu- 
ren and Risdon are small places, the largest of which may contain 
30 dwellings. 


HARDIN. 


Hardin was formed from old Indian territory, April 1st, 1820. 
About half of the county is level, and the remainder undulating: 
the soil is part gravelly loam and part clayey, and based on lime¬ 
stone. The principal productions are wheat, corn and swine. The 
following is a list of the townships in 1840, with their population. 


Blanchard, 241 Jackson, 260 

Cissna, 259 Liberty, 170 

Dudley, 349 Marion, 177 

Goshen, 549 M’Donald, 285 

Hale, 267 

The population of Hardin, in 1840, was 4583, or 9 inhabitants to 
a square mile. 


Pleasant, 569 
Round Head, 564 
Taylor Creek, 400 
Washington, 203 



240 


HARDIN COUNTY, 


Col. John Hardin, from whom this county was named, was an officer of distinction in 
the early settlement of the west. He was born of humble parentage, in Fauquier county, 
Virginia, in 1753. From his very youth, he was initiated into the life of a woodsman, and 
acquired uncommon skill as a marksman and a hunter. In the spring of 1774, young 
Hardin, then not 21 years of age, was appointed an ensign in a militia company, and 
shortly after, in an action with the Indians, was wounded in the knee. Before he had fully 
recovered from his wound, he joined the noted expedition of Dunmore. In the war of the 
revolution, he was a lieutenant in Morgan’s celebrated rifle corps. He was high in the 
esteem of General Morgan, and was often selected for enterprises of peril, requiring dis¬ 
cretion and intrepidity. On one of these occasions, while with the northern army, he was 
sent out on a reconnoitering expedition, with orders to take a prisoner, for the purpose of 
obtaining information. Marching silently in advance of his party, he ascended to the top 
of an abrupt hill, where he met two or three British soldiers and a Mohawk Indian. The 
moment was critical. Hardin felt no hesitation—his rifle was instantly presented, and 
they ordered to surrender. The soldiers immediately threw down their arms—the Indian 
clubbed his gun. They stood, while he continued to advance on them: but none of his 
men having come up, and thinking he might want some assistance, he turned his head a 
little and called to them to come on: at this moment, the Indian, observing his eye with¬ 
drawn from him, reversed his gun with a rapid motion, in order to shoot Hardin ; when 
he, catching in his vision the gleam of light reflected from the polished barrel, with equal 
rapidity apprehended its meaning, and was prompt to prevent the dire effect. He brings 
his rifle to a level in his own hands, and fires without raising it to his face—he had not 
time, the attempt would have given the Indian the first fire, on that depended life and 
death—he gained it, and gave the Indian a mortal wound ; who, also, firing in the suc¬ 
ceeding moment, sent his ball through Hardin’s hair. The rest of the party made no 
resistance, but were marched to camp. On this occasion, Hardin received the thanks of 
General Gates. In 1786, he settled in Washington county, Kentucky, and there was no 
expedition into the Indian country after he settled in Kentucky, except that of General St. 
Clair, which he was prevented from joining from an accidental lameness, in which he was 
not engaged. In these, he generally distinguished himself by his gallantry and success. 
In Harmar’s expedition, however, he was unfortunate, being defeated by the Indians when 
on a detached command, near Fort Wayne. Colonel Hardin was killed in the 39th year 
of his age. He was—says Marshall, in his history of Kentucky, from which these facts 
are derived—a man of unassuming manners, and great gentleness of deportment; yet of 
singular firmness and inflexibility as to matters of truth and justice. Prior to the news of 
his death, such was his popularity in Kentucky, that he was appointed general of the first 
brigade. 

Colonel Hardin was killed by the Indians, in 1792. He was sent by General Washing¬ 
ton on a mission of peace to them—and was on his way to the Shawnees’ town. He had 
reached within a few miles of his point of destination, and was within w r hat is now Shelby 
county, in this state, when he was overtaken by a few Indians, who proposed encamping 
with him, and to accompany him the next day to the residence of their chiefs. In the 
night, they basely murdered him, as was alledged,for his horse and equipments, which were 
attractive and valuable. His companion, a white man, who spoke Indian, and acted as 
interpreter, was uninjured. When the chiefs heard of Hardin’s death, they were sorry, 
for they desired to hear what the messenger of peace had to communicate. A town was 
laid out on the spot some years since, on the state road from Piqua through Wapakonetta, 
and named, at the suggestion of Col. John Johnston, Hardin, to perpetuate the memory 
and sufferings of this brave and patriotic man. A son of his was lately secretary to the 
commonwealth of Kentucky. 

Fort M’Arthur was a fortification built in the late war, on the 
Scioto river, in this county, and on Hull’s road. The site was a 
low, flat place, in the far woods, and with but little communication 
with the settlements, as no person could go from one to the other 
but at the peril of his life, the woods being infested with hostile 
Indians. 

The fort was a weak stockade, enclosing about half an acre. 
There were two block houses; one in the northwest, and the other 
in the southeast angle. Seventy or eighty feet of the enclosure 
was composed of a row of log corn cribs, covered with a shed roof, 


HARDIN COUNTY. 


241 


sloping inside. A part of the pickets were of split timber, and 
lapped at the edges: others were round logs, set up endways, and 
touching each other. The rows of huts for the garrison were a 
few feet from the walls. It was a post of much danger, liable at 
any moment to be attacked. 

It was at one time commanded by Captain Robert M’Clelland, who recently died in 
Greene county. He was brave, and when roused, brave to rashness. While he com¬ 
manded at Fort M’Arthur, one of his men had gone a short distance from the walls for 
the purpose of peeling bark—while he was engaged at a tree, he was shot twice through 
the body, by a couple of Indians in ambush, whose rifles went off so near together that the 
reports were barely distinguishable. He uttered one piercing scream of agony, and ran 
with almost superhuman speed, but fell before he reached the fort. An instant alarm was 
spread through the garrison, as no doubt was entertained but that this was the commence¬ 
ment of a general attack, which had been long expected. Instead of shutting the gates 
to keep out danger, M’Clelland seized his rifle, and calling on some of his men to follow, 
of which but few obeyed, he hastened to the place of ambush and made diligent search for 
the enemy, who, by an instant and rapid retreat, had effected their escape; nor did he 
return until he had scoured the woods all around in the vicinity of the fort.* 



Kenton. 


Kenton, the county seat, is on the Scioto river and Mad river 
railroad, 71 miles northwest of Columbus, and 78 from Sandusky 
City. It was laid out only a few years since, and named from Gen. 
Simon Kenton, a sketch of whom is under the head of Logan county. 
The view shown was taken southwest of the town. The railroad 
is shown in front, with the depot on the left: the Presbyterian church 
appears near the center of the view. In the center of the town is 
a neat public square. From the facilities furnished by the railroad, 
Kenton promises to be an inland town of considerable business and 
population. It now contains 8 dry goods and 4 grocery stores, 1 
newspaper printing office, 1 foundery, 1 grist and 1 saw mill, 1 
Presbyterian and 1 Methodist church, and had in 1840, 300 inhab¬ 
itants, since which it is estimated to have more than doubled its pop¬ 
ulation. There is a house in this town, the rain flowing from its 
north ridge finds its way to Lake Erie, and that from its south ridge 
to the Gulf of Mexico. Patterson, 10 miles north, on the railroad, 
and Roundhead, 14 southwest of Kenton, are small villages. This 

* Thomas C. Wright. 

31 












242 


HARRISON COUNTY. 


last was named from Roundhead , a Wyandot chief, who had a vil¬ 
lage there. Major Galloway, who visited it about the year 1800, 
says that there were then quite a number of apple trees in the vil¬ 
lage, $md that the Indians raised many swine. Roundhead, whose 
Indian name was Stiahta , was a fine looking man. He had a brother 
named John Battise, of great size and personal strength. His nose, 
which was enormous, resembled, in hue, a blue potatoe, was full of 
indentations, and when he laughed, it shook like jelly. These In¬ 
dians joined the British in the late war, and Battise was killed at 
Fort Meigs. 


HARRISON. 

Harrison was formed Jan. 1st, 1814, from Jefferson and Tuscara¬ 
was, and named from Gen. Wm. H. Harrison. It is generally very 
hilly: these hills are usually beautifully curving and highly culti¬ 
vated. The soil is clayey, in which coal and limestone abound. 
It is one of the greatest wool-growing counties in Ohio, having, in 
1847, 102,971 sheep. Large quantities of wheat, corn, oats and hay 
are produced, and a considerable number of horses, cattle and swine 
exported. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their 


population. 

Archer, 

1009 

German, 

1349 

Nottingham, 

1368 

Athens, 

1435 

Green, 

Monroe, 

1465 

Rumley, 

1027 

Cadiz, 

2386 

896 

Short Creek, 

2023 

Franklin, 

941 

Moorefield, 

1344 

Stock, 

826 

Freeport, 

1294 

North, 

1090 

Washington, 

1004 


The population, in 1820, was 14,345, in 1830, 20,920, and in 1840, 
20,099 ; or 50 inhabitants to a square mile. 

In April, 1799, Alex. Henderson and family, from Washington 
county, Pennsylvania, squatted on the southwest quarter of the sec¬ 
tion on which Cadiz stands: at this time, Daniel Peterson resided at 
the forks of Short Creek, with his family, the only one within the 
present limits of Harrison. In 1800, emigrants, principally from 
Western Pennsylvania, began to cross the Ohio river; and in the 
course of five or six years, there had settled within the county the 
following named persons, with their families, viz.: 

John Craig, John Taggart, John Jamison, John M’Fadden, John Kernahan, John Huff, 
John Maholm, John Wallace, John Lyons, Rev. John Rea, Danl. Welch, William Moore, 
Jas. Black, Sainl. Dunlap, James Arnold, Joseph and Samuel M’Fadden, Sami. Gilmore, 
James Finney, Thos. and Robt. Vincent, Robert Braden, Jas. Wilkin, Samuel and George 
Kernahan, Thos. Dickerson, Joseph Holmes, James Hanna, Joseph, Wm. and Eleazer Huff, 
Baldwin Parsons, James Haverfield, Robert Cochran, Samuel Maholm, Hugh Teas, Joseph 
Clark, Morris West, Jacob Sheplar, Martin Snider, Sami. Osborn, Sami. Smith, and per¬ 
haps others, besides those in Cadiz and on Short Creek ; Thomas Taylor, John Ross, Thos. 
Hitchcock, Arthur and Thomas Barrett, Robert and Thos. Maxwell, Absalom Kent, John 
Pugh, Michael Waxier, Wm. M’Clary, Joseph, Joel and Wm. Johnson, George Layport, 
William Ingles, Thos. Wilson, and perhaps others on Stillwater ; John M’Connell, George 
Brown, John Love. Wm. and Robt. M’Cullough, Brokaw and others, on Wheeling creek. 



HARRISON COUNTY. 


243 


Robt. Maxwell, Wm. and Joseph Huff and Michael Maxler, were 
great hunters, and the three former had been Indian spies, and had 
many perilous adventures with the Indians. On one occasion, after 
peace, an Indian boasted, in the presence of Wm. Huff and others, 
that he had scalped so many whites. Towards evening, the Indian 
left for his wigwam, but never reached it. Being, shortly after, 
found killed, some inquiry was made as to the probable cause of his 
death, when Huff observed, that he had seen him the last time, sitting 
on a log, smoking his pipe ; that he was looking at him and reflecting 
what he had said about scalping white people, when suddenly his 
pipe fell from his mouth, and he, Huff, turned away, and had not 
again seen him until found dead. 

Beside frequent trouble with the Indians, the first settlers were 
much annoyed by wild animals. On one occasion, two sons of Geo. 
Layport having trapped a wolf, skinned it alive, turned if loose, and 
a few days after it was found dead. 



County Buildings at Cadiz. 


One mile west of the east boundary line of Harrison county, there 
was founded, in 1805, a Presbyterian church, called “ Beach Spring,” 
of which Rev. John Rea is at present, and for more than 40 years 
has been, the stated pastor. Their beginning was small; a log cabin, 
of not more than 20 feet square, was sufficient to contain all the 
members and all that attended with them. Their log cabin being 
burned down by accident, a large house, sufficient to contain a thou¬ 
sand worshippers, was raised in its room, and from 50 communing 
members, they increased in a short time to 3 and 400,<end'became 
the largest Presbyterian church in the state. 

Cadiz, the county seat, is a remarkably well-built and city-like 
town, 4 miles southeasterly from the center of the county, 117 
easterly from Columbus, 24 westerly from Steubenville, and 24 north¬ 
erly from Wheeling. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodjst 
Episcopal, 1 Associate, (Seceder,) and 1 Associate Reformed churcn. 
It also contains 2 printing presses, 12 dry goods, 7 grocery and 2 





244 


HARRISON COUNTY. 


drug stores, and had, in 1840, 1028 inhabitants, and is now estima¬ 
ted to contain 1200. 

Cadiz was laid out in 1803 or ’4, by Messrs. Biggs and Beatty. 
Its site was then like most of the surrounding country, a forest, and 
its location was induced by the junction there of the road from Pitts¬ 
burgh, by Steubenville, with the road from Washington, Pa., by 
Wellsburgh, Va., from where the two united, passed by Cambridge 
to Zanesville ; and previous to the construction of the national road 
through Ohio, was travelled more, perhaps, than any other road 
northwest of the Ohio river. In April, 1807, it contained the follow¬ 
ing named persons, with their families: Jacob Arnold, innkeeper ; 
Andrew M’Neeley, hatter, and justice of the peace ; Joseph Harris, 
merchant; John Jamison, tanner; John M’Crea, wheelwright, Robt. 
Wilkin, brickmaker; Connell Abdill, shoemaker; Jacob Myers, car¬ 
penter, John Pritchard, blacksmith ; Nathan Adams, tailor; James 
Simpson, reed-maker ; Wm. Tingley, school teacher, and old granny 
Young, midwife and baker, who was subsequently elected (by the 
citizens of the township, in a fit of hilarity) to the office of justice of 
the peace; but females not being eligible to office in Ohio, the old 
lady was obliged to forego the pleasure of serving her constituents. 

The first celebration of independence in Cadiz was on the 4th of 
July, 1806, when the people generally, of the town and country, for 
miles around, attended and partook of a fine repast of venison, wild 
turkey, bear meat, and such vegetables as the country afforded ; 
while for a drink, rye whiskey was used. There was much hilarity 
and good feeling, for at this time, men were supported for office from 
their fitness, rather than from their political sentiments. 

About one and a half miles west of Cadiz, on the northern peak of 
a high sandy ridge, are the remains of what is called the “ standing 
stone” from which a branch of Stillwater derived its name. The 
owner of the land has quarried off its top some eight feet. It is 
sandstone, and was originally from 16 to 18 feet high, about 50 feet 
around its base, and tapered from midway up to a cone-like top, 
being only about 20 feet around near its summit. It is said to have 
been a place of great resort by the Indians, and its origin has been a 
subject of speculation with many persons. It is, however, what 
geologists term a boulder , and was brought to its present position 
from, perhaps, a thousand miles north; embedded in a huge mass of 
ice, in some great convulsion ofinature, ages since. 

The following is a list of the most important villages in the county, 
with their distance and direction from Cadiz, and population in 1840: 
Harrisville, 9 southeast, 262; New Jefferson, 11 northeast, 155; 
New Rumley, 11 north, 136; Deersville, 12 west, 202; Freeport, 
17 south of west, 255 ; Moorfield, 12 southwest, 210; Athens, 6 south, 
319. At this last, is Franklin college, a respectable institution, 
founded in 1825, which has at present 65 students and a library of 
near 2,000 volumes. Quite a number of students have graduated 
there, and its situation, in regard to retirement, economy and health, 
is auspicious to its success. At present, Rev. Alex. D. Clark is pre- 


HENRY COUNTY. 


245 


sident, Rev. Andrew M. Black, prof, of languages, and Rev. Joseph 
Gorden, prof, of mathematics.* 


HENRY. 

Henry was formed, April 1st, 1820, from old Indian territory, and 
named from Patrick Henry, the celebrated Virginian orator in the 
revolutionary era. This county is well supplied with running 
streams, and the soil naturally rich and productive. The principal 
products are Indian corn, oats, potatoes and maple sugar. The fol¬ 
lowing is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population. 

Adams, 188 Fredonia, 105 Richfield, 83 

Damascus, 489 Napoleon, 609 Richland, 542 

Flatrock, 476 

The population of Henry, in 1840, was 2,492, or 5 inhabitants to a 
square mile. 

A greater part of this county is covered by the famous “ Black 
Swampy This tract reaches over an extent of country of one hun¬ 
dred and twenty miles in length, with an average breadth of forty 
miles, about equalling in area the state of Connecticut. It is at pre¬ 
sent thinly settled, and has a population of about 50,000 ; but, proba¬ 
bly, in less than a century, when it shall be cleared and drained, it 
will be the garden of Ohio, and support half a million of people. The 
surface is generally high and level, and “ sustains a dense growth of 
forest-trees, among which beech, ash, elm, and oak, cotton wood and 
poplar, most abound. The branches and foliage of this magnificent 
forest are almost impenetrable to the rays of the sun,'and its gloomy 
silence remained unbroken until disturbed by the restless emigrants 
of the west.” It is an interesting country to travel through. The 
perfect uniformity^of the soil, the level surface of the ground, alike 
retaining and alike absorbing water, has given to the forest a ho¬ 
mogeneous character: the trees are all generally of the same height, 
so that when viewed at a distance through the haze, the forest ap¬ 
pears like an immense blue wall, stretched across the horizon. It is 
yet the abode of wild animals: flocks of deer are occasionally seen 
bounding through its labyrinths, flowers and flowering shrubs bloom 
in its midst, and beautiful birds ma#e it vocal with melody. 

Throughout the swamp, a mile or two apart, are slight ridges of 
limestone, from 40 rods to a mile wide, running usually in a westerly 
direction, and covered with black walnut, butternut, red elm and 
maple. The top soil of the swamp is about a foot thick, and com¬ 
posed of a black, decayed vegetable matter, extremely fertile. Be¬ 
neath this, and extending several feet, is a rich yellow clay, having 
large quantities of the fertilizing substances of lime and silex. Lower 


* The facts embodied under the head of Harrison county, were mainly derived from the 
communication of a gentleman residing in Cadiz. 




246 


HENRY COUNTY. 


still is a stratum of black clay of great depth. The water of the 
swamp is unpleasant to the taste, from containing a large quantity of 
sulphur: it is, however, healthy and peculiarly beneficial to persons 
of a costive habit, or having diseases of the blood. The soil is ex¬ 
cellent for grain and almost all productions : garden vegetables and 
fruit thrive wonderfully. We were shown an orchard ol apple trees, 
some of which had attained the height of 20 feet, and measured at 
their base 20 inches, which, when first planted, five years since, 
were mere twigs, but a few feet in height, and no larger than one’s 
finger. 

The notorious Simon Girty once resided 5 miles above Napoleon, 
at a place still called “ Girty's Point." His cabin was on the bank 
of the Maumee, a few rods west of the residence of Mr. Elijah Gunn. 
All traces of his habitation have been obliterated by culture, and 
a fine farm now surrounds the spot. 

Simon Girty was from Pennsylvania, to which his father had emigrated from Ireland. 
The old man was beastly intemperate, and nothing ranked higher in his estimation than a 
jug of whiskey “ Grog was his song, and grog would he have.” His sottishness turned 
his wife’s affection. Ready for seduction, she yielded her heart to a neighboring rustic, 
who, to remove all obstacles to their wishes, knocked Girty on the head and bore off the 
trophy of his prowess. Four sons of this interesting couple were left, Thomas, Simon, 
George and James. The three latter were taken prisoners, in Braddock’s war, by the 
Indians. George was adopted by the Delawares, became a ferocious savage, and died in 
a drunken fir. James was adopted by the Shawnees, and became as depraved as his other 
brothers. It is said, he often visited Kentucky, at the time of its first settlement, and in¬ 
flicted most barbarous tortures upon all captive women who came within his reach. Traders, 
who were acquainted with him, say, so furious was he, that he would not have turned on 
his heel to save a prisoner from the flames. To this monster are to be attributed many of 
the cruelties charged upon his brother Simon ; yet he was caressed by Proctor and Elliott. 
Simon was adopted by the Senecas, and became an expert hunter. In Kentucky and Ohio, 
he sustained the character of an unrelenting barbarian. Sixty years ago, with his name 
was associated everything cruel and fiend-like. To the women and children, in particular, 
nothing was more terrifying than the name of Simon Girty. At that time, it was believed 
by many that he had fled from justice and sought refuge among the Indians, determined to 
do his countrymen all the harm in his power. This impression was an erroneous one. 
Being adopted by the Indians, he joined them in their wars, and conformed to their usages. 
This was the education he had received, and their foes were his. Although trained in all 
his pursuits as an Indian, it is said to be a fact susceptible of proof, that, through his impor¬ 
tunities, many prisoners were saved from death. His influence was great, and when he 
chose to be merciful, it was generally in his power to protect the imploring captive. His 
reputation was that of an honest man, and he fulfilled his engagements to the last cent. It 
is said, he once sold his horse rather than to incur the odium of violating his promise. He 
was intemperate, and when intoxicated, ferocious and abusive alike of friends and foes. 
Although much disabled the last ten years of his life, by rheumatism, he rode to his hunting 
grounds in pursuit of game. Suffering the^nost excruciating pains, he often boasted of his 
warlike spirit. It was his constant wish, one that was gratified, that he might die in battle. 
He was at Proctor’s defeat, and M r as cut to pieces by Col. Johnson’s mounted men. 

The above we derive from Campbell’s sketches. We have, in 
addition, some anecdotes and facts, which throw doubt over the 
character of Simon Girty, as there given. 

In September, 1777, Girty led the attack on Fort Henry, on the 
site of Wheeling, during which he appeared at the window of a cabin, 
with a white flag, and demanded the surrender of the fort in the 
name ot his Britannic majesty. He read the proclamation of Gov. 
Hamilton, and promised the protection of the crown if they would 


HENRY COUNTY. 


247 


lay down their arms and swear allegiance to the king. He warned 
them to submit peaceably, and admitted his inability to restrain his 
warriors, when excited in the strife of battle. Col. Shepherd, the 
commandant, promptly replied, that they would never surrender to 
him, and that he could only obtain possession of the fort when there 
remained no longer an American soldier to defend it. Girty re¬ 
newed his proposition, but it was abruptly ended by a shot from a 
thoughtless youth, and Girty retired and opened the siege, which 
proved unsuccessful. Baker’s station, in that vicinity, was also at¬ 
tacked, not far from this time, by Girty and his band, but without 
success. 

In August, 1782, a powerful body of Indians, led by Girty, appear¬ 
ed before Bryant’s station, in Kentucky, about five miles from Lex¬ 
ington. The Kentuckians made such a gallant resistance, that the 
Indians became disheartened, and were about abandoning the siege ; 
upon this, Girty thinking he might frighten the garrison into a sur¬ 
render, mounted a stump, within speaking distance, and commenced 
a parley. He told them who he was, that he looked hourly for rein¬ 
forcements with cannon, and that they had better surrender at once ; 
if they did so, no one should be hurt; otherwise, he feared they would 
all fall victims. The garrison were intimidated; but one young 
man, named Reynolds, seeing the effect of this harangue, and believ¬ 
ing his story, as it was, to be false, of his own accord, answered him 
in this wise: “You need not be so particular to tell us your name; 
we know your name and you too. I’ve had a villainous untrust¬ 
worthy cur dog this long while, named Simon Girty , in compliment 
to you ; he’s so like you—just as ugly and just as wicked. As to the 
cannon, let them come on ; the country’s roused, and the scalps ot 
your red cut-throats, and your own too, will be drying on our cabins 
in twenty-four hours; and if, by chance, you or your allies do get 
into the fort, we’ve a big store of rods laid in, on purpose to scourge 
you out again.” This method of Reynolds was effectual; the In¬ 
dians withdrew, and were pursued a few days after, the defenders 
of the fort being reinforced, to the Blue licks, where the Indians lay 
in ambush, and defeated the Kentuckians with great slaughter. Girty 
was also at St. Clair’s defeat and led the attack on Colerain. 

Dr. Knight, in his narrative of his captivity and burning of Col. 
Crawford, (see Wyandot co.,) speaks of the cruelty of Simon Girty 
to the colonel and himself. Col. jlohn Johnston corroborates the 
account of Dr. Knight. In a communication before us he says: 
“ He was notorious for his cruelty to the whites, who fell into the 
hands of the Indians. His cruelty to the unfortunate Col. Crawford, 
is well known to myself, and although I did not witness the tragedy, 
I can vouch for the facts of the case, having had them from eye wit¬ 
nesses. When that brave and unfortunate commander was suffering 
at the stake by a slow fire, in order to lengthen his misery to the 
longest possible time, he besought Girty to have him shot, to end his 
torments, when the monster mocked him by firing pow^der without ball 
at him. Crawford and Girty had been intimately acquainted in the 


248 


HENRY COUNTY. 


early settlement of Pennsylvania; I knew a brother of the latter at 
Pittsburg, in 1793. 

When Simon Kenton was taken prisoner, his life was saved 
through the interposition of Girty. (See a sketch of Kenton in Lo¬ 
gan county.) 

Mr. Daniel M. Workman, now living in Logan county, gave us orally the following 
respecting the last years of Girty. In 1813, said he, I went to Malden and put up at a hotel 
kept by a Frenchman. I noticed in the bar-room, a grey headed and blind old man. The 
landlady, who was his daughter, a woman of about thirty years of age, inquired of me, 
*• Do you know who that is 1” pointing to the old man. On my replying, “ No !” she re¬ 
joined, it is Simon Girty ! He had then been blind about four years. In 1815, I returned 
to Malden and ascertained that Girty had died a short time previous. Simon Kenton in¬ 
formed me that Girty left the whites, because he was not promoted to the command of a 
company or a battallion. I was also so informed by my father-in-law, who was taken 
prisoner by the Indians. Girty was a man of extraordinary strength, power of endurance, 
courage and sagacity. He was in height about 5 feet 10 inches and strongly made. 

Oliver M. Spencer, who was taken prisoner by the Indians while 
a youth, in 1792, in his narrative of his captivity makes some men¬ 
tion of the Girtys. While at Defiance, the old Indian priestess, 
Cooh-coo-cheeh, with whom he lived, took him to a Shawnee village, 
a short distance below, on a visit. There he saw the celebrated 
chief, Blue Jacket, and Simon Girty, of whom he speaks as follows: 

One of the visitors of Blue Jacket, (the Snake,) was a plain, grave chief of sage appear¬ 
ance ; the other, Simon Girty, whether it was from prejudice, associating with his look 
the fact, that he was a renegado, the murderer of his own countrymen, racking his diabolic 
invention to inflict new and more excruciating tortures, or not, his dark shaggy hair, his 
low forehead, his brows contracted, and meeting above his short flat nose ; his grey sunken 
eyes, averting the ingenious gaze ; his lips thin and compressed, and the dark and sinister 
expression of his countenance, to me, seemed the very picture of a villain. He wore the 
Indian costume, but without any ornament; and his silk handkerchief, while it supplied 
the place of a hat, hid an unsightly wound in his forehead. On each side, in his belt, was 
stuck a silver-mounted pistol, and at his left, hung a short broad dirk, serving occasionally 
the uses of a knife. He made of me many inquiries; some about my family, and the par¬ 
ticulars of my captivity ; but more of the strength of the different garrisons ; the number 
of American troops at Fort Washington, and whether the president intended soon to send 
another army against the Indians. He spoke of the wrongs he had received at the hands 
of his countrymen, and with fiendish exultation of the revenge he had taken. He boasted 
of his exploits, of the number of his victories, and of his personal prowess ; then raising 
his handkerchief, and exhibiting the deep wound in his forehead, (which I was afterwards 
told was inflicted by the tomahawk of the celebrated Indian chief, Brandt, in a drunken 
frolic,) said it was a sabre cut, which he received in battle at St. Clair’s defeat; adding 

with an oath, that he had “ sent the d-d Yankee officer” that gave it, “ to h—1.” He 

ended by telling me that I would never see home ; but if I should turn out to be a good 
hunter and a brave warrior, I might one day be a chief.” His presence and conversation 
having rendered my situation painful, I was not a little relieved when, a few hours after, 
ending our visit, we returned to our quiet l$>dge on the bank of the Maumee. 

Just before Spencer was liberated from captivity, he had an in¬ 
terview with Joseph Girty, and not a very pleasant one either, judg¬ 
ing from his narration of it. 

Elliot ordered Joseph to take me over to James Girty’s, where he said our breakfast 
would be provided. Girty’s wife soon furnished us with some coffee, wheat bread, and 
stewed pork and venison, of which (it being so much better than the food to which I had 
been lately accustomed) I ate with great govt; but I had not more than half breakfasted, 
when Girty came in, and seating himself opposite me, said, “ So, my young Yankee, 
you’re about to start for home.” I answered, “ Yes, sir, I hope so.” That, he said, would 
depend on my master, in whose kitchen he had no doubt I should first serve a few years’ 
apprenticeship as a scullion. Then taking his knife, said, (while sharpening it on a whet- 


HIGHLAND COUNTY. 


249 


stone,) “ I see your ears are whole yet, but I’m d—n—y mistaken if you leave this without 
the Indian ear mark, that we may know you when we catch you again.” I did not wait 
to prove whether he was in jest, or in downright earnest; but leaving my breakfast half 
finished, I instantly sprang from the table, leaped out of the door, and in a few seconds took 
refuge in Mr. Ironside’s house. On learning the cause of my flight, Elliot uttered a sar¬ 
donic laugh, deriding my unfounded childish fears, as he was pleased to term them ; but 
Ironside looked serious, shaking his head, as if he had no doubt that if I had remained, 
Girty would have executed his threat. 

We finish this notice of the Girtys by a brief extract from the mss. 
of Jonathan Alder, who knew Simon—showing that he was by no 
means wholly destitute of kind feelings. 

I knew Simon Girty to purchase at his own expense, several boys who were prisoners, 
take them to the British and have them educated. He was certainly a friend to many 
prisoners. 

Napoleon, the county seat, is on the Maumee river and Wabash 
and Erie canal, 17 miles below Defiance, 40 above Toledo and 154 
nw. of Columbus. It is a small village containing about 300 inhab¬ 
itants. Florida, 8 miles above, on the canal, is also a small town. 


HIGHLAND. 


Highland was formed in May, 1805, from Ross, Adams and Cler¬ 
mont, and so named because on the high land between the Scioto and 
Little Miami. The surface is part rolling and part level, and the 
soil various in its quality. As a whole, it is a wealthy and produc¬ 
tive county, and the wheat raised here being of a superior quality, 
commands the highest market price. The principal productions are 
wheat, Indian corn, oats, maple sugar, wool, swine and cattle. The 
following is a list of its townships, in 1840, with their population. 

Brush Creek, 1502 Jackson, 2352 Paint, 256 

Liberty, 3521 

Madison, 1916 

New Market, 1302 


Salem, 1004 

Union, 1089 

White Oak, 887 


Clay, 783 

Concord, 1014 

Dodson, 795 

Fairfield, 3544 

The population of Highland in 1820, was 12,308 ; in 1830, 16,347; 
in 1840, 22,269, or 40 inhabitants to a square mile. 

This county was first settled about the year 1801 ; the principal 
part of the early settlers were from Virginia and North Carolina, 
many of whom were Friends. The first settlement was made in 
the vicinity of New Market, by Oliver Ross, Robert Huston, Geo. 
W. Barrere and others. Among the settlers of the county, was 
Bernard Weyer, the discoverer of the noted cave in Virginia, known 
as “ Weyer* s cave," who is yet living on the rocky fork of Paint 
creek. The celebrated pioneer and hunter, Simon Kenton, made a 
trace through this county, which passed through or near the site of 
Hillsboro’: it is designated in various land titles as “ Kenton’s Trace" 
In the southeastern part of the county, near the village of Sinking 
Spring, is an eminence five hundred feet above Brush creek, which 

32 



250 


HIGHLAND COUNTY. 


washes its base, called “ Fort Hillon its summit, is an ancient 
work of over half a mile in length; a full description and di awing 
of which, by Dr. John Locke, is in the Geological Reports ot Ohio. 



Gorge in Rocky Fork of Paint Creek. 

About 13 miles east of Hillsborough, near the county line and road 
to Chillicothe, the Rocky fork of Paint creek passes for about two 
miles, previous to its junction with the main stream, through a deep 
gorge, in some places more than a hundred feet in depth, and form¬ 
ing a series of wild picturesque views, one of which, at a place 
called “ the narrows,” is here represented. In the ravine are numer¬ 
ous caves, which are much visited. One or two of them have been 
explored for a distance of several hundred yards. 

Hillsborough, the county seat, is on the dividing ridge between the 
Miami and Scioto, in a remarkably healthy situation, 62 miles south¬ 
easterly from Columbus, and 36 westerly from Chillicothe. It was 
laid out as the seat of justice in 1807, on land of Benjamin Ellicott, 
of Baltimore, the site being selected by David Hays, the commis¬ 
sioner appointed for that purpose. Prior to this, the seat of justice 










HIGHLAND COUNTY. 


251 


was at New Market, although the greater part of the population of 
Highland, was north and east of Hillsborough. The original town 
plat comprised 200 acres, 100 of which Mr. Ellicott gave to the 



county, and sold the remainder at $2 per acre. It contains 1 Pres¬ 
byterian, 1 Methodist and 1 Baptist church, 2 newspaper printing 
offices, 14 stores, and had in 1840, 868 inhabitants. It is a neat vil¬ 
lage, the tone of society elevated, and its inhabitants disposed to 
foster the literary institutions situated here. 

The Hillsborough academy was founded in 1827 ; its first teacher 
was the Rev. J. M’D. Mathews. A charter was obtained shortly 
after, and the funds of the institution augmented by two valuable 
tracts, comprising 2000 acres, given by Maj. Adam Hoops and the 
late Hon. John Brown, of Kentucky. A handsome brick building 
has been purchased by its trustees, on a beautiful eminence near the 
town, which is devoted to the purposes of the institution. It has 
the nucleus for a fine library, and ere long will possess an excellent 
philosophical and chemical apparatus. It is now very flourishing, 
and has a large number of pupils; “ the classical and mathematical 
courses are as thorough and extensive, as at any college in the west 
instruction is also given in other branches usually taught in colleges. 
Especial attention is given to training young men as teachers. It is 
under the charge of Isaac Sarns, Esq. The Oakland female sem¬ 
inary, a chartered institution, was commenced in 1839, by the Rev. 
J. M’D. Mathews, who has still charge of it. It now has over 100 
pupils, and is in excellent repute. Diplomas are conferred upon its 
graduates. The academy is beautifully located in the outskirts of 
the village, and is well furnished with maps, apparatus, &c., and has 
a small library. 


The Hon. William A. Trimble was born in Woodford, Ky., April 4th, 1786. His 
father, Capt. James Trimble, had emigrated with his family from Augusta, Va., to Ken¬ 
tucky. In the year 1804, being deeply impressed with the evils of slavery,*he was about 
to remove into Highland, when he was taken unwell and died. His son William grad¬ 
uated at Transylvania university, after which he returned to Ohio, spent some time in the 
office of his brother Allen, since Gov. Trimble, later studied law at Litchfield, Conn., and 
returned to Highland and commenced the practice of his profession. 

At the breaking out of the war of 1812, he was chosen major in the Ohio volunteers. 








252 


HOCKING COUNTY. 


was at Hull’s surrender and was liberated on his patrole. Some time in the following 
winter he was regularly exchanged, and in March was commissioned major in the 26th 
regiment. In the defence of and sortie from Fort Erie, he acted with signal bravery, and 
received a severe wound, which was the prominent cause of his death, years after. He 
continued in the army until 1819, with the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel, at which 
time he was elected to the national senate, to succeed Mr. Morrow, whose time of ser¬ 
vice had expired. In December, 1819, he took his seat, and soon gave promise of much 
future usefulness. He progressed for two sessions of congress in advancing the public 
interest, and storing his mind with useful knowledge, when nature yielded to the recurring 
shocks of disease, and he died, Dec. 13th, 1821, aged 35 years. 

Greenfield, in the northeast corner of the county, 19 miles from 
Hillsborough and 21 west of Chillicothe, on Paint creek, in a beautiful 
and highly cultivated country, is a flourishing town, containing 4 
churches, a printing office, an academy, a large number of stores 
which do an extensive business, and a population nearly equal to the 
county seat. Large quantities of corn are raised in that section, on 
the bottom lands of the various streams. Near the town are ex¬ 
cellent limestone quarries, and one of a fine-grained sandstone. 

The following is a list of towns in the county, with their distances 
and directions from Hillsborough and population, in 1840; Leesburgh, 
11 north, 298; Lexington, 11 west of north, 151; Lynchburg, 10 
west, 102 ; Marshall, 9 south of east, 126 ; New Market, 6 south, 
212; Petersburg, 10 north of east, 278; Rainsborough, 10 east, 115, 
and Sinking Spring, 16 southeast, 223; Belfast, Buford, Danville, 
Monroe, Mourytown, Dodsonville, Allensburgh and New Boston, 
are small places. 


HOCKING. 


Hocking was formed March 1st, 1818, from Ross, Athens and 
Fairfield. The land is generally hilly and broken, but along the 
streams, level and fertile. The principal products are Indian corn, 
wheat, tobacco and maple sugar. The following is a list of its 
townships in 1840, with their population. 

Benton, 

Falls, 

Good Ho 
Greene, 


448 

Jackson, 

472 

1625 

Laurel, 

836 

469 

Marion, 

1370 

1189 

Salt Creek, 

821 


Starr, 622 

Swan, 759 

Washington, 1124 


The population of Hocking, in 1820, was 2080; in 1830,4008, 
and in 1840, 9735, or 22 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The name of this county is a contraction of that of the river 
Hockhocking, which flows through it. Hock-hock-ing , in the lan¬ 
guage of the Delaware Indians, signifies a bottle: the Shawnees 
have it, TVea-tha-kagh-qua sepe , i. e. bottle river. Jno. Wdiite, in 
the American Pioneer,says; “about six or seven miles northwest of 
Lancaster, there is a fall in the Hockhocking, of about twenty feet: 
above the fall, for a short distance, the creek is very narrow and 
straight, forming a neck, while at the falls it suddenly widens on 



HOCKING COUNTY. 


253 


each side and swells into the appearance of the body of a bottle. 
The whole, when seen from above, appears exactly in the shape 
of a bottle, and from this fact, the Indians called the creek Hock- 
hocking.” 

Dr. S. P. Hildreth, in a late publication, has incidentally given a 
description of the wild scenery of the southwestern part of Hocking. 

One of the favorite descents of the Indians was down the waters of Queer creek, a tribu¬ 
tary of Salt creek, and opened a direct course to their town of old Chillicothe. > It is a 
wild, romantic ravine, in which the stream has cut a passage, for several miles in extent, 
through the solid rock, forming mural cliffs, now more than one hundred and twenty feet 
in height. They are also full of caverns and grottoes, clothed with dark evergreens of the 
hemlock and cedar. Near the outlet of this rocky and narrow valley, there stood, a few 
years since, a large beech tree, on which was engraven, in legible characters, “ This is the 
road to hell , 1782.” These words were probably traced by some unfortunate prisoner then 
on his way to the old Indian town of Chillicothe. This whole region is full of interesting 
scenery, and affords some of the most wild and picturesque views of any other of equal 
extent in the state of Ohio. It was one of the best hunting grounds for the bear; as its 
numerous grottoes and caverns afforded them the finest retreats for their winter quarters. 
These caverns were also valuable on another account, as furnishing vast beds of nitrous 
earth, from which the old hunters, in time of peace, extracted large quantities of saltpetre 
for the manufacture of gunpowder, at which art some of them were great proficients. One 
of these grottoes, well known to the inhabitants of the vicinity, by the name of the “ Ash 
cave,” contains a large heap of ashes piled up by the side of the rock which forms one of 
its boundaries. It has been estimated, by different persons, to contain several thousand 
bushels. The writer visited this grotto in 1837, and should say there was at that time not 
less than three or four hundred bushels of clean ashes, as dry and free from moisture as 
they were on the day they were burned. Whether they are the refuse of the old salt¬ 
petre makers, or were piled up there in the course of ages, by some of the aborigines who 
made these caverns their dwelling places, remains a9 yet a subject for conjecture. 

These ravines and grottoes have all been formed in the out-cropping edges of the sand¬ 
stone and conglomerate rocks, which underlie the coal fields of Ohio, by the wasting action 
of the weather, and attrition of running water. The process is yet going on in several 
streams on the southwest side of Hocking county, where the water has a descent of thirty, 
forty or even fifty feet at a single pitch, and a fall of eighty or a hundred in a few rods. 
The falls of the Cuyahoga and the Hockhocking, are cut in the same geological formation. 
The water, in some of these branches, is of sufficient volume to turn the machinery of a 
a grist or sawmill, and being lined and overhung with the graceful foliage of the evergreen 
hemlock, furnishes some of the wildest and most beautiful scenery. This is especially so 
at the “ Cedar falls,” and “ the falls of Black Jack.” The country is at present but par¬ 
tially settled, but when good roads are opened and convenient inns established, no portion 
of Ohio can afford a richer treat for the lovers of wild and picturesque views. 

There is a tradition among the credulous settlers of this retired spot, that lead ore was 
found here and worked by the Indians; and many a weary day has been spent in its fruit¬ 
less search among the cliffs and grottoes which line all the streams of this region. They 
often find ashes and heaps of cinders ; and the “ pot holes” in a bench of the sand rock in 
the “ Ash cave,” evidently worn by the water at a remote period, when the stream ran 
here, although it is now eighty or one hundred feet lower, and ten or twelve rods farther 
north, they imagine, were in some way used for smelting the lead. 

This tract of country once belonged to the Wyandots, and a con¬ 
siderable town of that tribe, situated at the confluence of a small 
stream with the river, one mile below Logan, gives the name Oldtown 
to the creek. The abundance of bears, deer, elks, and occasionally 
buffaloes, with which the hills and vallies were stored, together with 
the river fishing, must have made this a desirable residence. About 
five miles southeast of Logan, are two mounds, of the usual conical 
form, about sixty feet in diameter at the base, erected entirely from 
stones, evidently brought from a great distance to their present 
location. 


254 


HOCKING COUNTY. 


For the annexed historical sketch of the county, we are indebted 
to a resident. 

Early in the spring of 1798, several families from different places, passing through the 
territory of the Ohio company, settled at various points on the river, some of whom re¬ 
mained, w r hile others again started in pursuit of “ the far west.” The first actual settler 
in the county was Christian Westenhaver, from near Hagerstown, Md., of German ex¬ 
traction, a good practical farmer and an honest man, who died in 1829, full of years, and / 
leaving a numerous race of descendants. In the same spring came the Brians, the Pences 
and the Francisco’s, from western Virginia, men renowned for feats of daring prowess in 
hunting the bear, an animal at that time extremely numerous. As an example of the 



View in Logan. 

privations of pioneer life, when Mr. Westenhaver ascended the river with his family, a 
sack of corn-meal constituted no mean part of his treasures. By the accidental upsetting 
of his canoe, this unfortunately became wet, and consequently blue and mouldy. Never¬ 
theless it was kept, and only on special occasions served out with their bountiful supply of 
bear’s meat, venison and turkeys, until the approaching autumn yielded them potatoes and 
roasting ears, which they enjoyed with a gusto that epicures might well envy. And when 
fall gave the settlers a rich harvest of Indian corn, in order to reduce it to meal they had 
to choose between the hommony mortar, or a toilsome journey of near thirty miles over an 
Indian trace to the mill. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, there is but little doubt that 
for many years there was more enjoyment of real life than ordinarily falls to a more arti¬ 
ficial state of society. True, though generally united, disputes would sometimes arise, and 
w’hen other modes of settlement were unavailing, the last resort , a duel, decided all. But 
in this, no “ Colt’s revolver” was put in requisition, but the pugilistic ring was effectual. 
Here the victor’s wounded honor was fully satisfied, and a treat of “ old Monongahela” 
(rye whiskey) by the vanquished, restored perfect good feelings among all parties. As to 
deciding disputes by law, it was almost unthought of. It is true, there were some few 
men’ycelped justices of the peace, generally selected for strong natural sense, who ad¬ 
mirably answered all the purposes of their election. One, a very w orthy old gentleman, 
being present at what he considered an unlawful demonstration, commanded the peace, 
which command not being heeded, he immediately threw off his “ icarmus rolled up his 

* The “ warmus” is a working garment, similar in appearance to a “ roundabout,” but 
more full, and being usually made of red flannel, is elastic and easy to the wearer. It is 
an article generally unknown in New England, New York, and the extreme northern or 
southern part of our country, but is more peculiar to the Germans of Pennsylvania. If 
any traveller, in passing through Ohio, should chance to see a large number* of “ lobster 
back” people on the farms, or about the village taverns, he may at once know, without 
any inquiry, that he is among the descendants of the worthy settlers of the “ key-stone 
state.” 





















HOLMES COUNTY. 


255 


sleeves, and shouted, "Boys! I’ll be-if you shan’t keep the peace,” which awful 

display of magisterial power instantly dispersed the terror-stricken multitude. This state 
of things continued with slow, but almost imperceptible alterations, until 1818, when the 
number of inhabitants, and their advance in civilization , obtained the organization of the 
county. 

Logan, the county seat, is on the Hockhocking river and canal, 
one mile below the great fall of the Hockhocking river, 47 miles se. 
of Columbus, 18 below Lancaster, and 38 miles e. of Chillicothe. It 
was laid out about the year 1816, and contains 4 stores, 1 Presby¬ 
terian and 1 Methodist church, and about 600 inhabitants. The 
view, taken near the American hotel, shows in the center the court 
house, an expensive and substantial structure, and on the extreme 
right, the printing office. There are no other villages in the county 
of any note. 


HOLMES. 


Holmes was formed January 20th, 1824, from Coshocton, Tusca¬ 
rawas and Wayne, and organized the succeeding year. The south¬ 
western part is broken and very hilly, and the soil thin; the re¬ 
mainder of the county is hilly and uneven, but produces excellent 
wheat. Along Killbuck’s creek, coal of a superior quality abounds. 
The principal products are wheat, Indian corn, oats, potatoes, maple 
sugar, swine, sheep and neat cattle. The following is a list of its 


Berlin, 
German, 
Hardy, 
Killbuck, 
Knox, 


1151 

Mechanic, 

1400 

1281 

Monroe, 

898 

1985 

Paint, 

1361 

906 

Prairie, 

1347 

1178 

Richland, 

1088 


Ripley, 1279 

Salt Creeek. 1730 
Walnut Creek, 1000 
Washington, 1457 


The population of Holmes, in 1830, was 9123, and in 1840,18,061, 
or 45 inhabitants to a square mile. 

This county was named from Major Holmes, a gallant young offi¬ 
cer of the war of 1812, who was killed in the unsuccessful attack 
upon Mackinac, under Colonel Croghan, August 4th, 1814. Its 
settlers principally originated from Pennsylvania, Maryland and 
Virginia: among them are also some Swiss Germans. It was first 
settled about 1810, by Thomas Butler, who settled about 7 miles 
north of Millersburg, on the Wooster road, and Peter Casey, who 
built a cabin half a mile west of the county seat. About this time, 
William and Samuel Morrison and George Carpenter settled on 
Doughty’s fork, 8 miles south of the court house. In the late war, 
there was a block house erected, called “ Morgan’s block house,” 
just over the northern line of the county, on the road to Wooster. 
There were 24000 acres of choice land scattered about the county 
of the Connecticut Western Reserve school land, which, not being 
in market until 1831, operated disadvantageous^ to the dense settle- 




256 


HOLMES COUNTY. 


inent of the country. Since then, Holmes has more than doubled 
its population. 

Nearly 2 miles south of Millersburg, on land belonging to the 
Rev. Alexander Campbell, of Bethany, is a strongly impregnated 
chalybeate spring. In the northwest corner of Holmes, is “ Odell’s 
lake,” a beautiful sheet of water, about three miles long, half a mile 
broad, and abounding in fish of various kinds. 



View in Millersburg. 


Millersburg, the county seat, is situated on elevated ground, sur¬ 
rounded by lofty hills, on Killbuck creek, 87 miles northeast of 
Columbus, and about 70 south of Cleveland. It was laid out in 
1824, by Charles Miller and Adam Johnson, and public lots sold on 
the 4th of June, of that year. There had been previously, a quarter 
of a mile north, a town of the same name, laid out about the year 
1816. The names recollected of the first settlers in the village, are 
Seth Hunt, Colonel Wm. Painter, Samuel S. Henry, George Stout, 
Samuel C. M’Dowell, R. K. Enos, Jonathan Korn, John Smurr, 
John Glasgow, Thomas Hoskins, James Withrow, James M’Kennan 
—the first lawyer in Holmes—and James S. Irvine, the first physi¬ 
cian in the same. A short time previous to the sale, three houses 
were erected : the first was a frame, on the ne. corner of Jackson 
and Washington streets ; the second, a frame, on the ne. corner of 
Washington and Adams streets; and the last, a log, on the site of 
S. C. Bever’s residence. The Seceder church, the first built, was 
erected in 1830, and the Methodist Episcopal, in 1833. The village 
was laid out in the forest, and in 1830, the population reached to 
320. About fourteen years since, on a Sunday afternoon, a fire 
broke out in the frame house on the corner of Washington and 
Adams streets, and destroyed a large part of the village. Among 
the buildings burnt, was the court house and jail, which were of log, 
the first standing on the ne. corner of the public square, and the 
other a few rods south of it. Millersburg contains 1 Presbyterian, 
1 Episcopal Methodist, 1 Lutheran and 1 Seceder church, 2 news¬ 
paper printing offices, 10 dry goods and 3 grocery stores, 1 foundery, 
1 grist mill, and had, in 1846, 673 inhabitants. 














HURON COUNTY. 


257 


In the eastern part of Holmes, is an extensive settlement of Dun- 
kards, who originated from eastern Pennsylvania, and speak the Ger¬ 
man language. They are excellent farmers, and live in a good sub¬ 
stantial style. The men wear long beards and shad-bellied coats, 
and use hooks and eyes instead of buttons. The females are attired 
in petticoats and short gowns, caps without frills, and when doing 
out-door labor, instead of bonnets, wear broad-brimmed hats. 

Berlin, 7 miles e. of Millersburg, on the Dover road, has 2 
churches, 5 stores, 1 foundery, 1 machine shop, and is a thriving 
business place, with a population of near 400. Nashville, 11 w. of 
M., has 3 churches, 3 stores, and something less than 300 inhabitants. 
Benton, Middletown, Lafayette, Oxford, Napoleon, Farmersville and 
New Carlisle are small villages. 


HURON. 


Huron was formed, February 7th, 1809, and organized in 1815. 
It originally constituted the whole of “the fire-lands.” The name, 
Huron, was given by the French to the Wyandot tribe: its signifi¬ 
cation is probably unknown. The surface is mostly level, some 
parts slightly undulating; soil mostly sandy mixed with clay, form¬ 
ing a loam. In the northwest part are some prairies, and in the 
northern part are the sand ridges which run on the southern side of 
Lake Erie, and vary in width from a few rods to more than a mile. 
Huron was much reduced in 1838, in population and area, by the 
formation of Erie county. Its principal productions are hay and 
grass, wheat, corn, oats, barley, buckwheat, flaxseed, potatoes, but¬ 
ter, cheese, wool and swine. The following is a list of its town¬ 
ships in 1840, with their population. 

Bronson, 1291 Lyme, 

Clarksfield, 1473 New Haven, 

Fairfield, 10G7 New London, 

Fitchville, 1294 Norwich, 

Greenfield, 1460 Norwalk, 

Greenwich, 1067 Peru, 

Hartland, 925 Richmond, 

The population of Huron in 1820, was 6,677; in 1830,13,340, and 
in 1840, 23,934, or 52 inhabitants to a square mile. 

Norwalk, the county seat, named from Norwalk, Ct., is 110 miles 
n. of Columbus and 16 from Sandusky City. It lies principally on 
a single street, extending nearly 2 miles and beautifully shaded by 
maple trees. Much taste is evinced in the private dwellings and 
churches, and in adorning the grounds around them with shrubbery. 
As a whole, the town is one of the most neat and pleasant in Ohio. 
The view given represents a small portion of the principal street: 
on the right is shown the court-house and jail, with a part of the 
public square, and in the distance is seen the tower of the Norwalk 

33 


1318 

Ridgefield, 

1599 

1270 

Ripley, 

804 

1218 

Ruggles, 

Sherman, 

1244 

676 

692 

2613 

Townsend, 

868 

1998 

306 

Wakeman, 

702 



258 


HURON COUNTY. 


institute. Norwalk contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal, 
1 Methodist and 1 Catholic church, 9 dry goods, 1 book and 4 gro- 



View in Norwalk. 


eery stores, 1 bank, 2 newspaper printing offices, 1 flouring mill, 2 
foundries, and about 1800 inhabitants. The Norwalk institute is an 
incorporated academy, under the patronage of the Baptists: a large 
and substantial brick building, three stories in height, is devoted to 
its purposes; the institution is flourishing and numbers over 100 
pupils, including both sexes. A female seminary has recently been 
commenced under auspicious circumstances, and a handsome build¬ 
ing erected in the form of a Grecian temple. About a mile west of 
the village are some ancient fortifications. 

The site of Norwalk was first visited with a view to the founding 
of a town, by the Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, Platt Benedict, and one 
or two others, in October, 1815. The place was then in the wil¬ 
derness, and there were but a few settlers in the county. The ex¬ 
amination being satisfactory, the town plat was laid out in the spring 
following, by Almon Ruggles, and lots offered for sale at from $60 
to $100 each. In the fall of 1817, Platt Benedict built a log house, 
with the intention of removing his family, but in his absence it was 
destroyed by fire. He reconstructed his dwelling shortly after, and 
thus commenced the foundation of the village. In the May after, 
Norwalk was made the county seat, and the public buildings sub¬ 
sequently erected. The year after, a census was taken, and the 
population had reached 109. In the first few years of the settlement, 
the different denominations appearing to have forgotten their pecu¬ 
liar doctrines, were accustomed to meet at the old court house for 
sacred worship, at the second blowing of the horn. In 1820, the 
Methodists organized a class, and in 1821, the Episcopal society was 
constituted. From that time to the present, the village has grown 
with the progressive increase of the country. 

In 1819, two Indians were tried and executed at Norwalk, for 
murder. Their names were Ne-go-sheck and Ne-gon-a-ba, the last 
of which is said to signify “ one who walks far.” The circumstances 
of their crime and execution we take from the mss. history of the 
“ fire-lands,” by the late C. B. Squier, Esq. # 

*For some facts respecting the history of the“ fire-lands,” see Erie county and the sketch 
of the Western Reserve in this volume. 






















JACKSON COUNTY". 


259 


In the spring of 1816, John Wood of Venice, and George Bishop of Danbury, were trap¬ 
ping for muskrats on the west side of Danbury, in the vicinity of the “ two harbors,” so 
called ; and having collected a few skins, had lain down for the night in their temporary 
hut. Three straggling Ottawa Indians came, in the course of the night, upon their camp 
and discovered them sleeping. To obtain their little pittance of furs, &c., they were in¬ 
duced to plan their destruction. After completing their arrangements, the two eldest armed 
themselves with clubs, singled out their victims, and each, with a well-directed blow upon 
their heads, dispatched them in an instant. They then forced their youngest companion, 
Negasow, who had been until then merely a spectator, to beat the bodies with a club, that 
he might be made to feel that he was a participator in the murder, and so refrain from ex¬ 
posing their crime. After securing whatever was then in the camp that they desired, they 
took up their line of march for the Maumee, avoiding, as far as possible, the Indian settle¬ 
ments on their course. 

Wood left a wife to mourn his untimely fate, but Bishop was a single man. Their bodies 
were found in a day or two by the whites, under such circumstances, that evinced that they 
had been murdered by Indians, and a pursuit was forthwith commenced. The Indians liv¬ 
ing about the mouth of Portage river, had seen these straggling Indians passing eastward, 
now suspected them of the crime, and joined the whites in the pursuit. They were over¬ 
taken in the neighborhood of the Maumee river, brought back and examined before a 
magistrate. They confessed their crime and were committed to jail. At the trial the two 
principals were sentenced to be hung in June, 1819: the younger one was discharged. 
The county of Huron had at this time no secure jail, and they were closely watched by an 
armed guard. They nevertheless escaped one dark night. The guard fired and wounded 
one of them severely in the body, but he continued to run for several miles, till tired and 
faint with the loss of blood, he laid down, telling his companion he should die, and urging him 
to continue on. The wounded man was found after the lapse of two or three days, some¬ 
where in Penn township in a dangerous condition, but he soon recovered. The other was 
recaptured near the Maumee by the Indians, and brought to Norwalk, where they were both 
hanged according to sentence. 

In this transaction, the various Indian tribes evinced a commen¬ 
dable willingness that the laws of the whites should be carried out. 
Many of them attended the execution, and only requested that the 
bodies of their comrades should not be disturbed in their graves. 

There are several large and thriving villages in this county, con¬ 
taining each several churches and stores, and doing considerable 
business. Bellevue, 13 miles w. of Norwalk, on the county line and 
Mad river railroad, has a population of nearly 700. Paris, or Ply¬ 
mouth, is 20 miles ssw., on the county line, and the Sandusky City 
and Mansfield railroad, New Haven 17 ssw. of N., on the same 
railroad, and Monroeville, 5 w. of N., have each about 500 inhabi¬ 
tants. Maxville, or Peru, 6 ssw. of N., Steamburg, 10 s., and Fitch- 
ville, 12 se., are of less note, though villages of importance. 


JACKSON. 

Jackson was organized in March, 1816, and named from President 
Jackson. The surface is hilly, but in many parts produces excellent 
wheat. The county is rich in minerals, and abounds in coal and 
iron ore: and mining will be extensively prosecuted whenever com¬ 
munication is had with navigable waters by railroads. The early 
settlers were many of them western Virginians ; and a considerable 
portion of its present inhabitants are from Wales and Pennsylvania, 
who are developing its agricultural resources. The exports are 



260 


JACKSON COUNTY. 


cattle, horses, wool, swine, mill-stones, lumber, tobacco and iron. 
The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population. 


Bloomfield, 

721 

Jackson, 

410 

Milton, 

912 

Clinton, 

824 

Jefferson, 

752 

Richland, 

548 

Franklin, 

1055 

Liberty, 

474 

Scioto, 

931 

Hamilton, 

415 

Lick, 

822 

Washington, 

481 

Harrison, 

378 

Madison, 

724 




The population of Jackson, in 1820, was 3,842, in 1830, 5,941, and 
in 1840, 9,744; or 20 inhabitants to the square mile. 

Mr. Samuel Davis, who is now residing in Franklin county, near 
Columbus, was taken prisoner by the Indians, and made his escape 
while within the present limits of this county. He was born in New 
England, moved to the west, and was employed by the governor of 
Kentucky as a spy against the Indians on the Ohio. The circum¬ 
stances of his captivity and escape are from his biography, by Col. 
John M’Donald. 

In the fall of 1792, when the spies were discharged, Davis concluded he would make a 
winter’s hunt up the Big Sandy river. He and a Mr. William Campbell prepared them¬ 
selves with a light canoe, with traps and ammunition, for a fall hunt. They set off from 
Massie’s station, (Manchester,) up the Ohio; thence up Big Sandy some distance, hunting 
and trapping as they went along. Their success in hunting and trapping was equal to their 
expectation. Beaver and otter were plenty. Although they saw no Indian sign, they were 
very circumspect in concealing their canoe, either by sinking it in deep water, or conceal¬ 
ing it in thick willow brush. They generally slept out in the hills, without fire. This con¬ 
stant vigilance and care was habitual to the frontier men of that day. They hunted and 
trapped till the winter began to set in. They now began to think of returning, before the 
rivers would freeze up. They accordingly commenced a retrograde move down the river, 
trapping as they leisurely went down. They had been several days going down the river— 
they landed on a small island covered with willows. Here they observed signs of beaver. 
They set their traps, dragged their canoe among the willows, and remained quiet till late 
in the night. They now concluded that any persons, white, red, or black, that might hap¬ 
pen to be in the neighborhood, would be in their camp. They then made a small fire 
among the willows, cooked and eat their supper, and lay down to sleep without putting out 
their fire. They concluded that the light of their small fire could not penetrate through the 
thick willows. They therefore lay down in perfect self-security. Sometime before day, 
as they lay fast asleep, they were awakened by some fellows calling in broken English, 
“ Come, come—get up, get up.” Davis awoke from sleep, looked up, and, to his astonish¬ 
ment, found himself and companion surrounded by a number of Indians, and two standing 
over him with uplifted tomahawks. To resist, in such a case, would be to throw away 
their lives in hopeless struggle. They surrendered themselves prisoners. 

The party of Indians, consisting of upwards of thirty warriors, had crossed the Ohio about 
the mouth of Guyandotte river, and passed through Virginia to a station near the head of 
Big Sandy. They attacked the station and were repulsed, after continuing their attack two 
days and nights. Several Indians were killed during the siege, and several wounded. 
They had taken one white man prisoner from the station, by the name of Daniels, and taken 
all the horses belonging to the station. The Indians had taken, Dr made, some canoes, in 
which they placed their wounded and baggage, and were descending the river in their canoes. 
As they were moving down in the night, they discovered a glimpse of Davis’s fire through 
the willows. They cautiously landed on the island, found Davis and Campbell fast asleep, 
and awakened them in the manner above related. 

Davis and Campbell were securely fastened with tugs, and placed in their own canoe. 
Their rifles, traps, and the proceeds of their successful hunt, all fell into the hands of the 
Indians. The Indians made no delay, but immediately set off down the river in their 
canoes with their prisoners, while their main force went by land, keeping along the river 
bottoms with the horses they had taken from the station—keeping near the canoes, so as to 
be able to support each other in case of pursuit or attack. Early the next day, they reached 
the Ohio. The wounded and prisoners were first taken across the Ohio, and placed under 


JACKSON COUNTY. 


261 


a guard. They returned with the canoes, (leaving their arms stacked against a tree,) to 
assist in getting the horses across the river. It was very cold, and as soon as the horses 
would find themselves swimming, they would turn round and land on the same shore. The 
Indians had a great deal of trouble before they got the horses across the Ohio. The guard 
who watched Davis and his companions, were anxious, impatient spectators of the restive 
disposition of the horses to take the water. Upon one occasion, the guard left the prisoners 
twenty or thirty yards, to have a better view of the difficulty with the horses. Davis and 
his fellow-prisoners were as near to where the arms were stacked as were the Indian guard. 
Davis, who possessed courage and presence of mind in an eminent degree, urged his fellow- 
prisoners to embrace the auspicious moment, seize the arms, and kill the guard. His com¬ 
panions faltered—they thought the attempt too perilous—should they fail of success, nothing 
but instant death would be the consequence. While the prisoners were hesitating to adopt 
the bold plan of Davis, their guard returned to their arms, to the chagrin of Davis. This 
opportunity of escape was permitted to pass by without being used. Davis ever after 
affirmed, that if the opportunity which then presented itself for their escape had been boldly 
seized, their escape was certain. He frequently averred to the writer of this narrative, that 
if Duncan M’Arthur, Nat Beasly, or Sam. M’Dowel, had been with him upon this occasion, 
similarly situated, that he had no doubt they would not only have made their escape, but 
killed the guard and the wounded Indians, and carried off or destroyed the Indians’ arms. 
He said, if it had not been for the pusillanimity of his fellow-prisoners, they might have 
promptly and boldly snatched themselves from captivity, and done something worth talking 
about. The opportunity, once let slip, could not again be recalled. The Indians, after a 
great deal of exertion, at length got the horses across the Ohio, and hastily fixed litters to 
carry their wounded They destroyed their canoes, and went ahead for their own country. 
This body of Indians was commanded by a Shawnee chief, who called himself Captain 
Charles Wilkey. After Wayne’s treaty, in 1795, when peace blessed our frontiers, the 
writer of this sketch became well acquainted with this Captain Wilky. He was a short, 
thick, strong, active man, with a very agreeable and intelligent countenance. He was 
communicative and social in his manners. The first three or four years after Chillicothe 
was settled, this Indian mixed freely with the whites, and upon no occasion did he show a 
disposition to be troublesome. He was admitted by the other Indians who spoke of him, to 
be a warrior of the first order—fertile in expedients, and bold to carry his plans into execu¬ 
tion. Davis always spoke of him as being kind and humane to him. 

The Indians left the Ohio, and pushed across the country in the direction of Sandusky; 
and as they were encumbered with several wounded, and a good deal of baggage, without 
road or path, they travelled very slow, not more than ten or twelve miles a day. As many 
of the prisoners, taken by the Indians, were burned with slow fires, or otherwise tortured to 
death, Davis brooded over his captivity in sullen silence, and determined to effect his escape 
the first opportunity that would offer, that would not look like madness to embrace. At all 
events, he determined to effect his escape or die a fighting. The Indians moved on till 
they came to Salt Creek, in what is now Jackson county, O., and there camped for the 
night. Their manner of securing their prisoners for the night, was as follows: They took 
a strong tug, made from the raw hide of the buffalo or elk. This tug they tied tight around 
the prisoner’s waist. Each end of the tug was fastened around an Indian’s waist. Thus, 
with the same tug fastened to two Indians, he could not turn to the one side or the other, 
without drawing an Indian with him. In this uncomfortable manner, the prisoner had to 
lay on his back till the Indians thought proper to rise. If the Indians discovered the pris¬ 
oner making the least stir, they would quiet him with a few blows. In this painful situation, 
the prisoners must lay till light in the morning, when they would be unconfined. As the 
company of Indians was numerous, the prisoners were unconfined in daylight, but were told 
that instant death would be the consequence of any movement to leave the line of march, 
upon any occasion whatever, unless accompanied by an Indian. 

One morning, just before day began to appear, as Davis lay in his uncomfortable situa¬ 
tion, he hunched one of the Indians, to whom he was fastened, and requested to be untied. 
The Indian raised up his head and looked round, and found it was still dark, and no In¬ 
dians up about the fires. He gave Davis a severe dig with his fist, and bid him lay still. 
Davis’s mind was now in a state of desperation. Fire and faggot, sleeping or awake, were 
constantly floating before his mind’s eye. This torturing suspense would chill his soul with 
horror. After sometime, a number of Indians rose up and made their fires. It was grow¬ 
ing light, but not light enough to draw a bead. Davis again jogged one of the Indians to 
whom he was fastened, and said the tug hurt his middle, and again requested the Indian to 
untie him. The Indian raised up his head and looked round, and saw it was getting light, 
and a number of Indians about the fires, he untied him. Davis rose to his feet, and was 


262 


JACKSON COUNTY. 


determined, as soon as he could look round and see the most probable direction of making 
his escape, to make the attempt, at all hazards. He “ screwed his courage to the sticking 
point.” It was a most desperate undertaking. Should he fail to effect his escape, death, 
instant, cruel death, was his certain doom. As he rose up to his feet, with this deter¬ 
mined intention, his heart fluttered with tremors—his sight grew dim at the thought of the 
perilous plunge he was about to make. He rose up to his feet—stood a minute between 
the two Indians to whom he had been fastened, and took a quick glance at the Indians who 
were standing around him. In the evening, the Indians had cut two forks, which were 
stuck into the ground; a pole was laid across these forks, and all their rifles were leaned 
against the pole. If he made his start back from the Indian camp, the rifles of the Indians, 
who were standing round the fires, and who, he knew, would pursue him, would be before 
them ; and as they started after him, they would have nothing to do but pick up a rifle as 
they ran. On the contrary, if he made his plunge through the midst of them, they would 
have to run back for their guns, and by that time, as it was only twilight in the morning, 
he could be so far from them that their aim would be very uncertain. All this passed 
through his mind in a moment. As he determined to make his dash through the midst of 
the Indians who were standing around the fires, he prepared his mind and body for the 
dreadful attempt. The success of his daring enterprise depended on the swiftness of his 
heels. He knew his bottom was good. A large, active Indian was standing between 
Davis and the fire. He drew back his fist and struck that Indian with all his force, and 
dropped him into the fire ; and with the agility of a buck, he sprang over his body, and took 
to the woods with all the speed that was in his power. The Indians pursued, yelling and 
screaming like demons ; but, as Davis anticipated, not a gun was fired at him. Several 
Indians pursued him for some distance, and for some time it was a doubtful race. The 
foremost Indian was so close to him, that he sometimes fancied that he felt his clutch. 
However, at length Davis began to gain ground upon his pursuers—the breaking and rust¬ 
ling of brush was still farther and farther off. He took up a long, sloping ridge; when 
he reached the top, he, for the first time, looked back, and, to his infinite pleasure, saw no 
person in pursuit. He now slackened his pace, and went a mile or two further, when he be¬ 
gan to find his feet gashed and bruised by the sharp stones over which he had run, without 
picking his way, in his rapid flight. He now stopped, pulled off his waistcoat, tore it in two 
pieces, and wrapped them around his feet, instead of moccasons. He now pushed his way 
for the Ohio. He crossed the Scioto river, not far from where Piketon, in Pike county, 
now stands. He then marched over the rugged hills of Sunfish, Camp creek, Scioto Brush 
creek, and Turkey creek, and struck the Ohio river eight or ten miles below the mouth of 
Scioto. It was about the first of January. He was nearly three days and two nights with¬ 
out food, fire, or covering, exposed to the winter storms. Hardy as he undoubtedly was, 
these exposures and privations were almost too severe for human nature to sustain. But 
as Davis was an unwavering believer in that All-seeing eye, whose providence prepares 
means to guard and protect those who put their trust in him, his confidence and courage 
never forsook him for a moment, during this trying and fatiguing march. 

When he arrived at the Ohio, he began to look about for some dry logs to make a kind 
of raft, on which to float down the stream. Before he began to make his raft, he looked up 
the Ohio, and to his infinite gratification, he saw a Kentucky boat come floating down the 
stream. He now thought his deliverance sure. Our fondest hopes are frequently blasted 
in disappointment. As soon as the boat floated opposite to him, he called to the people in 
the boat—told them of his lamentable captivity, and fortunate escape. The boatmen heard 
his tale of distress with suspicion. Many boats, about this time, had been decoyed to shore 
by similar tales of woe ; and as soon as landed, their inmates cruelly massacred. The boat¬ 
men heard his story, but refused to land. They said they had heard too much about such 
prisoners, and escapes, to be deceived in his case. As the Ohio was low, he kept pace 
with the boat as it slowly glided along. The more pitiably he described his forlorn situ¬ 
ation, the more determined were the boat crew not to land for him. He at length request¬ 
ed them to row the boat a little nearer the shore, and he would swim to them. To this 
proposition the boatmen consented. They commenced rowing the boat towards the shore, 
when Davi3 plunged into the freezing water and swam for the boat. The boatmen, seeing 
him swimming towards them, their suspicions gave way, and they rowed the boat with all 
their force to meet him. He was at length lifted into the boat, almost exhausted. (Our 
old boatmen, though they had rough exteriors, had Samaritan hearts.) The boatmen were 
not to blame for their suspicion. They now administered to his relief and comfort every 
thing that was in their power. That night, or the next morning, he was landed at Massie’s 
station, (Manchester,) among his former friends and associates, where he soon recovered 
his usual health and activity. 


JACKSON COUNTY. 


263 


Jackson, the county seat, was laid out in 1817, and is 73 miles se. 
of Columbus, and 28 from Chillicothe. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 
1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal Methodist and 1 Protestant Methodist church, 
6 or 8 stores, 1 newspaper printing office, and, in 1840, had 297 in¬ 
habitants ; since which, the town has rapidly improved, and is now 
judged to contain a population of 500. In this vicinity are several 
valuable mineral springs, and also remains of ancient fortifications. 

The famous “old Scioto salt-works” are in this region, on the 
banks of Salt creek, a tributary of the Scioto. The wells were sunk 
to the depth of about 30 feet, but the water was very weak, requir¬ 
ing ten or fifteen gallons to make a pound of salt. It was first made 
by the whites about the year 1798, and transferred from the kettles 
to pack-horses of the salt purchasers, who carried it to the various 
settlements, and sold it to the inhabitants for three or four dollars per 
bushel, as late as 1808. This saline was thought to be so important 
to the country, that, when Ohio was formed into a state, a tract of 
six miles square was set apart by Congress, for the use of the state, 
embracing this saline. In 1804, an act was passed by the legislature, 
regulating its management, and appointing an agent to rent out small 
lots on the borders of the creek, where the salt water was most 
abundant to the manufacturers.* As better and more accessible 
saline springs have been discovered, these are now abandoned. 

The expression, very common in this region, “ shooting one with a pack-saddle ,” is said 
to have originated, in early days, in this way. A person, who had come on horseback, from 
some distance, to the salt-works to purchase salt, had his pack-saddle stolen by the boilers, 
who were a rough, coarse set, thrown into the salt furnace, and destroyed. He made little 
or no complaint, but determined to have revenge for the trick played upon him. On the 
next errand of this nature, he partly filled his pack-saddle with gunpowder, and gave the 
boilers another opportunity to steal and burn it, which they embraced—when, lo! much to 
their consternation, a terrific explosion ensued, and they narrowly escaped serious injury. 

These old salt-works were among the first worked by the whites 
in Ohio. They had long been known, and have been indicated on 
maps, published as early as 1755. The Indians, prior to the settle¬ 
ment of the country, used to come from long distances to make salt 
at this place; and it was not uncommon for them to be accompanied 
by whites, whom they had taken captive and adopted. Daniel 
Boone, when a prisoner, spent some time at these works. Jonathan 
Alder, a sketch of whom is under the head of Madison county, was 
taken prisoner, when a boy, by the Indians, in 1782, in Virginia, and 
adopted into one of their families, near the head waters of Mad river. 
He had been with them about a year, when they took him with them 
to the salt-works, where he met a Mrs. Martin, likewise a prisoner. 
The meeting between them was affecting. We give the particulars 
in his own simple and artless language. 

It was now better than a year after I was taken prisoner, when the Indians started off to 
the Scioto salt-springs, near Chillicothe, to make salt, and took me along with them. Here 
I got to see Mrs. Martin, that was taken prisoner at the same time I was, and this was the 
first time that I had seen her since we were separated, at the council-house. When she 


* Dr. Hildreth on the “ Saliferous Rock formation in the valley of the OhioSilliman’s 
Journal, Vol. XXIV, No. 1, pp. 48, 49. 



264 


JEFFERSON COUNTY. 


saw me, she came smiling and asked me if it was me. I told her it was. She asked me 
how I had been. I told her I had been very unwell, for I had had the fever and ague for 
a long time. So she took me off to a log, and there we sat down ; and she combed my 
head, and asked me a great many questions about how I lived, and if I didn’t want to see 
my mother and little brothers. I told her that I should be glad to see them, but never ex¬ 
pected to again. She then pulled out some pieces of her daughter’s scalp, that she said 
were some trimmings they had trimmed off the night after she was killed, and that she 
meant to keep them as long as she lived. She then talked and cried about her family, that 
was all destroyed and gone, except the remaining bits of her daughter’s scalp. We staid 
here a considerable time, and, meanwhile, took many a cry together ; and when we parted 
again, took our last and final farewell, for I never saw her again. 

There was found in this county, about ten years since, the re¬ 
mains of a mastodon, described in the public prints of the time. 
Near the southern line of the county, is the iron furnace of Ellison, 
Tewksbury & Co., called “ the Jackson Furnace.” Allensville, Mid¬ 
dleton, Oak Hill and Charleston, are small post villages. 


JEFFERSON. 

Jefferson, named from President Jefferson, was the fifth county 
established in Ohio: it was created by proclamation of Gov. St. 
Clair, July 29th, 1797: its original limits included the country west 
of Pennsylvania and Ohio; and east and north of a line from the 
mouth of the Cuyahoga; southwardly to the Muskingum, and east 
to the Ohio: within those boundaries is Cleveland, Canton, Steuben¬ 
ville, Warren and many other large towns and populous counties. 
The surface is hilly and the soil fertile. It is one of the greatest 
manufacturing counties in the state, and abounds in excellent coal. 
The principal crops are wheat, Indian corn and oats. The follow¬ 
ing is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population. 


Brush Creek, 

757 

Ross, 

927 

Steubenville, 5203 

Cross Creek, 

1702 

Salem, 

2044 

Warren, 1945 

Island Creek, 

1867 

Saline, 

963 

Wayne, 1746 

Knox, 

1529 

Smithfield, 

2095 

Wells, 1492 

Mount Pleasant, 1676 

Springfield, 

1077 


The population of Jefferson, in 1820, was 18,531; in 1830, 22,489, 
and in 1840, 25,031, or 62 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The old Mingo town, three miles below Steubenville, now the 
site of the farms of Jeremiah H. Hallock, Esq. and Mr. Daniel 
Potter, was a place of note prior to the settlement of the country. 
It was the point where the troops of Col. Williamson rendezvoused 
in the infamous Moravian campaign, and those of Col. Crawford, in 
his unfortunate expedition against the Sandusky Indians. It was 
also, at one time, the residence of Logan, the celebrated Mingo 
chief, whose form was striking and manly, and whose magnanimity 
and eloquence has seldom been equalled. He was a son of the 
Cayuga chief Skikellimus, who dwelt at Shamokin, Pa., in 1742, and 
was converted to Christianity, under the preaching of the Moravian 
missionaries. Skikellimus highly esteemed James Logan, the secre- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 


265 


tary of the province, named his son from him, and probably had him 
baptized by the missionaries. 

In early life, Logan for a while dwelt in Pennsylvania: and in 
Day’s Historical Collections of that state, is a view in Mifflin county, 
of Logan’s spring, which will long remain a memorial of this dis¬ 
tinguished chief. The letter below, gives an incident which oc¬ 
curred there, that speaks in praise of Logan. It was written by 
the Hon. R. P. Maclay, a member of the state senate, and son of 
the gentleman alluded to in the anecdote, and published in the Pitts¬ 
burg Daily American. 

Senate Chamber, March 21, 1842. 
To George Darsie, Esq., of the Senate of Pennsylvania. 

Dear Sir —Allow me to correct a few inaccuracies as to place and names, in the anec¬ 
dote of Logan, the celebrated Mingo chief, as published in the Pittsburg Daily American 
of March 17th, 1842, to which you called my attention. The person surprised at the 
spring now called the Big spring, and about six [four] miles west of Logan’s spring, was 
William Brown—the first actual settler in a Kishacoquillas valley, and one of the associate 
judges in Mifflin county, from its organization till his death, at the age of ninety-one or 
two—and not Samuel Maclay, as stated by Dr. Hildreth. I will give you the anecdote as 
I heard it related by Judge Brown himself, while on a visit to my brother, who then owned 
and occupied the Big Spring farm.* 

“ The first time I ever saw that spring,” said the old gentleman, “ my brother, James 
Reed and myself, had wandered out of the valley in search of land, and finding it very 
good, we were looking about for springs. About a mile from this we started a bear, and 
separated to get a shot at him. I was travelling along, looking about on the rising ground 
for the bear, when I came suddenly upon the spring ; and being dry, and more rejoiced to 
find so fine a spring than to have killed a dozen bears, I set my rifle against a bush and 
rushed down the bank and laid down to drink. Upon putting my head down, I saw re¬ 
flected in the water, on the opposite side, the shadow of a tall Indian. I sprang to my 
rifle, when the Indian gave a yell, whether for peace or war I was not just then sufficiently 
master of my faculties to determine; but upon my seizing my rifle, and facing him, he 
knocked up the pan of his gun, threw out the priming, and extended his open palm toward 
me in token of friendship. After putting down our guns, we again met at the spring, and 
shook hands. This was Logan—the best specimen of humanity I ever met with, either 
white or red. He could speak a little English, and told me there was another white hunter 
a little way down the stream, and offered to guide me to his camp. There I first met 
your father. We remained together in the valley a week, looking for springs and selecting 
lands, and laid the foundation of a friendship which never has had the slightest inter¬ 
ruption. 

We visited Logan at his camp, at Logan’s spring, and your father and he shot at a mark 
for a dollar a shot. Logan lost four or five rounds, and acknowledged himself beaten. 
When we were about to leave him, he went into his hut, and brought out as many deer¬ 
skins as he had lost dollars, and handed them to Mr. Maclay—who refused to take them, 
alledging that we had been his guests, and did not come to rob him—that the shooting had 
been only a trial of skill, and the bet merely nominal. Logan drew himself up with great 
dignity, and said, * Me bet to make you shoot your best—me gentleman, and me take your 
dollar if me beat.’ So he was obliged to take the skins, or affront our friend, whose nice 
sense of honor would not permit him to receive even a horn of powder in return. 

“ The next year,” said the old gentleman, “ I brought my wife up and camped under a 
big walnut tree, on the bank of Tea creek, until I had built a cabin near where the mill 
now stands, and have lived in the valley ever since. Poor Logan” (and the big tears 
coursed each other down his cheeks) “ soon after went into the Alleghany, and I never 
saw him again.” 

Yours, R. P. MACLAY. 

Mrs. Norris, who lives near the site of Logan’s spring, is a daugh¬ 
ter of Judge Brown: she confirmed the above, and gave Mr. Day 

* This spring is a few rods south of the Huntington road, in the rear of a blacksmith’s 
shop, four miles west of Reedville. 

34 



2 66 


JEFFERSON COUNTY. 


the following additional incidents, highly characteristic of the be¬ 
nevolent chief, which we take from that gentleman’s work. 

Logan supported his family by killing deer, dressing the skins, and selling them to the 
whites. He had sold quite a parcel to one De Yong, a tailor, who lived in Ferguson’s 
valley, below the gap. Tailors in those days dealt extensively in buckskin breeches. Logan 
received his pay, according to stipulation, in wheat. The wheat, on being taken to the 
mill, was found so worthless that the miller refused to grind it. Logan was much cha¬ 
grined, and attempted in vain to obtain redress from the tailor. He then took the matter 
before his friend Brown, then a magistrate ; and on the judge’s questioning him as to the 
character of the wheat, and what was in it, Logan sought in vain to find words to express 
the precise nature of the article with which the wheat was adulterated, but said that it 
resembled in appearance the wheat itself, “ It must have been cheat,” said the judge. 
“ Yoh !” said Logan, “ that very good name for him.” A decision was awarded in Logan’s 
favor, and a writ given to Logan to hand to the constable, which, he was told, would bring 
him the money for his skins. But the untutored Indian—too uncivilized to be dishonest— 
could not comprehend by what magic this little paper would force the tailor, against his 
will, to pay for the skins. The judge took down his own commission, with the arms of the 
king upon it, and explained to him the first principles and operations of civil law. “ Law 
good,” said Logan ; “ make rogues pay.” But how much more simple and efficient was the 
law which the Great Spirit had impressed upon his heart —to do as he would be done by l 

When a sister of Mrs. Norris (afterwards Mrs. Gen. Potter) was just beginning to learn 
to walk, her mother happened to express her regret that she could not get a pair of shoes 
to give more firmness to her little step. Logan stood by, but said nothing. He soon after 
asked Mrs. Brown to let the little girl go up and spend the day at his cabin. The cautious 
heart of the mother was alarmed at such a proposition; but she knew the delicacy of an 
Indian’s feelings—and she knew Logan, too—and with secret reluctance, but apparent 
cheerfulness, she complied with his request. The hours of the day wore very slowly away, 
and it was nearly night, when her little one had not returned. But just as the sun was 
going down, the trusty chief was seen coming down the path with his charge ; and in a 
moment more the little one trotted into her mother’s arms, proudly exhibiting a beautiful 
pair of moccasons on her little feet—the product of Logan’s skill. 


Logan took no part in the old French war, which ended in 1760, 
except that of a peace maker, and was always the friend of the 
white people until the base murder of his family, to which has been 
attributed the origin of Dunmore’s war. This event took place 
near the mouth of Yellow creek, in this county, about 17 miles 
above Steubenville. The circumstances have been variously re¬ 
lated. We annex them as given by Henry Jolly, Esq., who was 
for a number of years an associate judge on the bench of Washing¬ 
ton county, in this state. The facts are very valuable, as comin^ 
from the pen of one who saw the party the day after the murder; 
was personally acquainted with some of the individuals, and fa¬ 
miliar with that spot and the surrounding region.* He says: 

. I was about sixteen y ea rs of age, but I very well recollect what I then saw, and the 
information that I have since obtained, was derived from (I believe) good authority In 
the spring of the year 1774, a party of Indians encamped on the northwest of the Ohio 
near the mouth of the Yellow creek. A party of whites, called “ Greathouse’s party ” 
lay on the opposite side of the river. The Indians came over to the white party 
consisting, I think, of five men and one woman, with an infant. The whites gave 
them rum, which three of them drank, and in a short time they became very drunk 
The other two men and the woman refused to drink. The sober Indians were chal¬ 
lenged to shoot at a mark, to which they agreed; and as soon as they had emptied 
their guns the whites shot them down. The woman attempted to escape by flight 
bat was also shot down; she lived long enough, however, to beg mercy for her babe’ 
t elling them that it was a kin to thems elves. The whites had a man in the cabin, pre- 

* This statement was written for Dr. S. P. Hildreth, by Mr. Jolly, and published in Siffi- 
man’s Journal, for 1836. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 


267 


pared with a tomahawk for the purpose of killing the three drunken Indians, which w'as 
immediately done. The party of men then moved off for the interior settlements, and 
came to “ Catfish camp” on the evening of the next day, where they tarried until the day 
following. I very well recollect my mother feeding and dressing the babe ; chirruping to 
the little innocent, and its smiling. However, they took it away, and talked of sending it 
to its supposed father, Col. George Gibson, of Carlisle, Pa., “ who was then, and had been 
for many years a trader among the Indians.” The remainder of the party at the mouth 
of Yellow creek, finding that their friends on the opposite side of the river were massa¬ 
cred, attempted to escape by descending the Ohio ; and in order to prevent being discovered 
by the whites, passed on the west side of Wheeling island, and landed at Pipe creek, a small 
stream that empties into the Ohio a few miles below Grave creek, where they were over¬ 
taken by Cresap, with a party of men from Wheeling.* They took one Indian scalp, and 
had one white man (Big Tarrener) badly wounded. They, I believe, carried him in a lit¬ 
ter from Wheeling to Redstone. I saw the party on their return from their victorious cam¬ 
paign. The Indians had for some time before these events, thought themselves intruded 
upon by the “ Long Knife,” as they at that time called the Virginians, and many of them 
were for war. However, they called a council, in which Logan acted a conspicuous part. 
He admitted their grounds of complaint, but at the same time reminded them of some ag¬ 
gressions on the part of the Indians, and that by a war they could but harrass and distress 
the frontier settlements for a short time ; that “ the Long Knife” would come like the trees 
in the woods, and that ultimately they should be driven from the good lands which they 
now possessed. He therefore strongly recommended peace. To him they all agreed ; 
grounded the hatchet, and every thing wore a tranquil appearance ; when behold, the fu¬ 
gitives arrived from Yellow creek ; and reported that Logan’s father, brother and sister, 
were murdered ! Three of the nearest and dearest relations of Logan, had been massa¬ 
cred by white men. The consequence was, that this same Logan, who a few days before 
was so pacific, raised the hatchet, with a declaration that he would not ground it until he 
had taken ten for one; which I believe he completely fulfilled, by taking thirty scalps and 
prisoners in the summer of 1774. The above has often been related to me by several per¬ 
sons who were at the Indian towns at the time of the council alluded to, and also when 
the remains of the party came in from Yellow creek. Thomas Nicholson in particular, has 
told me the above and much more. Another person (whose name I cannot recollect) in¬ 
formed me that he was at the towns when the Yellow creek Indians came in, and that 
there was great lamentation by all the Indians of that place. Some friendly Indian advised 
him to leave the Indian settlements, which he did. Could any rational person believe for a 
moment, that the Indians came to Yellow creek with hostile intentions, or that they had 
any suspicion of similar intentions on the part of the whites, against them? Would five 
men have crossed the river, three of them become in a short time dead drunk, while the 
other two discharged their guns, and thus put themselves entirely at the mercy of the 
whites ; or would they have brought over a squaw with an infant pappoos, if they had not 
reposed the utmost confidence in the friendship of the whites ? Every person who is at alt 
acquainted with Indians knows better ; and it was the belief of the inhabitants who were 
capable of reasoning on the subject, that all the depredations committed on the frontiers, by 
Logan and his party, in 1774, wfere as a retaliation for the murder of Logan’s friends at 
Yellow creek. It was well known that Michael Cresap had no hand in the massacre at 
Yellow creeks 

During the war which followed, Logan frequently showed his 
magnanimity towards prisoners who fell into his hands. Among 
them was Maj. Wm. Robinson, of Clarksburg, Ya., from whose de¬ 
claration, given in Jefferson’s Notes, and information orally commu- 


* Cresap did not live at Wheeling, but happened to be there at that time with a party 
of men, who had, with himself, just returned from an exploring expedition down the Ohio, 
for the purpose of selecting and appropriating lands (called in the west, locating lands) 
along the river in choice situations ; a practice at that early day very common, when Vir¬ 
ginia claimed both sides of the stream, including what is now the state of Ohio.— S. P. H. 

t A brother of Capt. Daniel Greathouse, said to have been present at the massacre, was 
killed by the Indians the 24th March, 1791, between the mouth of the Scioto and Lime¬ 
stone, while emigrating to Kentucky in a flat boat, with his family. He seems to have 
made little or no resistance to the Indians, who attacked him in canoes. They probably 
knew who he was, and remembered the slaughter of Logan’s family, as he was taken on 
shore, tied to a tree, and whipped to death with rods.— S. P. II. 



268 


JEFFERSON COUNTY. 


nicated by his son, Col. James Robinson, now living near Coshocton, 
these facts are derived. 

On the 12th of July, 1774, Major Robinson, then a resident on the 
west fork of Monongahela river, was in the field with Mr. Colburn 
Brown and Mr. Helen, pulling flax, when they were surprised and 
fired upon by a party of eight Indians, led by Logan. Mr. Brown 
was killed and the other two made prisoners. On the first alarm, 
Mr. Robinson started and ran. When he had got about 50 yards, 
Logan called out in English, “ Stop, I won’t hurt you !” “ Yes, you 

will,” replied Robinson, in tones of fear. “ No, I won’t,” rejoined 
Logan, “ but if you don’t stop, by — I’ll shoot you.” Robinson still 
continued his race, but stumbling over a log, fell and was made cap¬ 
tive by a fleet savage in pursuit. Logan immediately made himself 
known to Mr. Robinson and manifested a friendly disposition to him, 
told him that he must be of good heart and go with him to his town, 
where he would probably be adopted in some of their families. 
When near the Indian village, on the site of Dresden, Muskingum 
county, Logan informed him that he must run the gauntlet, and gave 
him such directions, that he reached the council-house without the 
slightest harm. He was then tied to a stake for the purpose of 
being burnt, when Logan arose and addressed the assembled council 
of chiefs, in his behalf. He spoke long and with great energy, until 
the saliva foamed from the sides of his mouth. This was followed 
by other chiefs in opposition, and rejoinders from Logan. Three 
separate times was he tied to the stake to be burnt, the councils of 
the hostile chiefs prevailing, and as often untied by Logan and a belt 
of wampum placed around him as a mark of adoption. His life ap¬ 
peared to hang on a balance ; but the eloquence of Logan prevailed, 
and when the belt of wampum was at last put on him by Logan, 
he introduced a young Indian to him, saying, “ this is your cousin, 
you are to go home with him and he will take care of you.” 

From this place, Mr. Robinson accompanied the Indians up the 
Muskingum, through two or three Indian villages, until they arrived 
at one of tbeir towns on the site of New Comerstown, in Tusca¬ 
rawas county. About the 21st of July, Logan came to Robinson 
and brought a piece of paper, saying that he must write a letter for 
him, which he meant to carry and leave in some house, which he 
should attack. Mr. Robinson wrote a note with ink, which he man¬ 
ufactured from gun-powder. He made three separate attempts before 
he could get the language, which Logan dictated, sufficiently strong 
to satisfy that chief. This note was addressed to Col. Cresap, whom 
Logan supposed was the murderer of his family. It was afterwards 
found, tied to a war club, in the cabin of a settler who lived on or 
near the north fork of Holston river.* It was doubtless left by Lo¬ 
gan after murdering the family. A copy of it is given below, which 
on comparison with his celebrated speech, shows a striking similar¬ 
ity of style. 


* See letter of Judge Innes, in the Pioneer, Vol. I, p. 14. 




MARKET STREET, STEUBENVILLE. 

On the right is seen the County buildings, on the left the Market, and in the distance, near the foot of the hill, some Factories. 


































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































JEFFERSON COUNTY. 


269 


Captain Cresap: 

What did you kill my people on Yellow creek for 1 The white people killed my kin, 
at Conestoga, a great while ago ; and I thought nothing of that. But you killed my kin 
again on Yellow creek and took my cousin prisoner. Then I thought I must kill too ; and 
I have been three times to war since ; but the Indians are not angry ; only myself. 

July 21st, 1774. Captain John Logan. 

Major Robinson, after remaining with the Indians about four 
months, returned to his home in Virginia. In 1801, he removed to 
Coshocton county, and settled on a section of military land, on the 
Muskingum, a few miles below Coshocton, where he died in 1815, 
aged 72 years. His son resides on the same farm. 

Dunmore’s war was of short duration. It was terminated in No¬ 
vember of the same year, within the present limits of Pickaway 
county, in this state, under which head will be found a copy of the 
speech which has rendered immortal the name of Logan. 

The heroic adventure of the two Johnson boys, who killed two 
Indians in this county, has often and erroneously been published. 
One of these, Henry, the youngest is yet living in Monroe county, in 
this state, where we made his acquaintance in the spring of 1846. 
He is a fine specimen of the fast vanishing race of Indian hunters, 
tall and erect, with the bearing of a genuine backwoodsman. His 
narrative, recently published in a Woodsfield paper, here follows : 

I was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., on the 4th day of February, 1777. When I 
was about eight years old, my father having a large family to provide for, sold his farm 
with the expectation of acquiring larger possessions farther west. Thus he was stimulated 
to encounter the perils of a pioneer life. He crossed the Ohio river and bought some im¬ 
provements on what was called Beach Bottom flats, two and a half miles from the river, 
and three or four miles above the mouth of Short creek. Soon after he came there, the 
Indians became troublesome. They stole horses and varipus other things, and killed a 
number of persons in our neighborhood. 

When I was between eleven and twelve years old, I think it was the fall of 1788, I 
was taken prisoner with my brother John, who was about eighteen months older than I. 
The circumstances are as follows: On Saturday evening we were out with an older 
brother, and came home late in the evening; one of us had lost a hat, and John and I 
went back the next day to look for it. We found the hat, and sat down on a log and were 
cracking nuts. After a short time, we saw two men coming down from the direction of 
the house; from their dress we took them to be two of our neighbors, James Perdue and J. 
Russell. We paid but little attention to them till they came quite near us. To escape by 
flight was now impossible, had we been disposed to try it. We sat still until they came 
up to us. One of them said, “ how do hrodder my brother then asked them if they were 
Indians, and they answered in the affirmative, and said we must go with them. One of 
them had a blue buckskin, which he gave my brother to carry, and without further cere¬ 
mony, we took up the line of march for the wilderness; not knowing whether we should 
ever return to the cheerful home we had left; and not having much love for our command¬ 
ing officers, of course we obeyed martial orders rather tardily. One of the Indians walked 
about ten steps before, and the other about the same distance behind us. After travelling 
some distance we halted in a deep hollow and sat down. They took out their knives and 
whet them, and talked some time in the Indian tongue, which we could not understand. I 
told my brother that I thought they were going to kill us, and I believe he thought so too ; 
for he began to talk to ihem, and told them that his father was cross to him and made him 
work hard, and that he did not like hard work, that he would rather be a hunter and live in 
the woods. This seemed to please them, for they put up their knives and talked more lively 
and pleasantly to us. We returned the same familiarity, and many questions passed be¬ 
tween us; all parties were very inquisitive. They asked my brother which way home was, 
and he told them the contrary way every time they would ask him, although he knew the 
way very well: this would make them laugh ; they thought we were lost and that we knew 
no better. 

They conducted us over Short creek hills in search of horses, but found none; so we 


270 


JEFFERSON COUNTY. 


continued on foot. Night came on, and we halted in a low hollow, about 3 miles from 
Carpenter’s fort, and about 4 from the place where they first took us. Our route being 
somewhat circuitous and full of zigzags, we made headway but slowly. As night began to 
close in around us, I became fretful; my brother encouraged me, by whispering to me that 
we would kill the Indians that night. After they had selected the place of encampment, 
one of them scouted round the camp, while the other struck fire, which was done by stop¬ 
ping the touch-hole of the gun and flashing powder in the pan. After the Indian got the 
fire kindled, he re-primed the gun and went to an old stump to get some dry tinder wood 
for fire ; and while he was thus employed, my brother John took the gun, cocked it, and 
was about to shoot the Indian ; but I was alarmed fearing the other might be close by, and 
be able to overpower us; so I remonstrated against his shooting and took hold of the gun 
and prevented the shot. I, at the same time, begged him to wait till night and I would 
help him to kill them both. The Indian that had taken the scout came back about dark. 
We took our suppers, talked some time and went to bed on the naked ground to try 
to rest, and study out the best mode of attack. They put us between them, that they 
might be the better able to guard us. After a while one of the Indians, supposing we were 
asleep, got up and stretched himself down on the other side of the fire, and soon began to 
snore. John, who had been watching every motion, found they were sound asleep, and 
whispered to me to get up. We got up as carefully as possible. John took the gun which 
the Indian struck fire with, cocked it and placed it in the direction of the head of one the 
Indians; he then took a tomahawk and drew it over the head of the other ; I pulled the 
trigger and he struck at the same instant; the blow, falling too far back on the neck, only 
stunned the Indian ; he attempted to spring to his feet, uttering most hideous yells. Al¬ 
though my brother repeated the blows with some effect, the conflict became terrible and 
somewhat doubtful. The Indian, however, was forced to yield to the blows he received 
upon his head, and, in a short time, he lay quiet and still at our feet. After we were satis¬ 
fied that they were both dead, and fearing there were others close by, we hurried off, and 
took nothing with us but the gun I shot with. We took our course towards the river, and 
in about three quarters of a mile we found a path which led to Carpenter’s fort. My 
brother here hung up his hat, that we might know on our return where to turn off to find our 
camp. We got to the fort a little before daybreak. We related our adventure, and a 
small party went back with my brother and found the Indian that was tomahawked ; the 
other had crawled away a short distance with the gun. A skeleton and a gun were found, 
some time after, near the place where we had encamped. 

The last blood shed in battle between the whites and Indians in 
this part of the Ohio country, was in Jefferson county, in August, 
1793. This action, known as “Buskirk’s battle,” took place on the 
farm of Mr. John Adams, on what was then known as Indian Cross 
creek now as Battle-Ground run. The incidents given below were 
published in a Steubenville paper, a few years since. 

A party of twenty eight Indians having committed depredations on this side of the river, 
a force of thirty eight Virginians, all of them veteran Indian fighters, under Capt. Bus- 
kirk, crossed the river to give them battle. And although they knew they were in the vicin¬ 
ity of the enemy, they marched into an ambuscade, and but for a most singular circum¬ 
stance, would have been mowed down like pigeons. The whites marched in Indian file with 
their captain, Buskirk, at their head. The ambush quartered on their flank, and they 
were totally unsuspicious of it. The plan of the Indians was to permit the whites to ad¬ 
vance in numbers along the line before firing upon them. This was done, but instead of 
each selecting his man, every gun was directed at the captain, who fell with thirteen bullet 
holes in his body. The whites and Indians instantly treed, and the contest lasted more 
than an hour. The Indians, however, were defeated, and retreated towards the Musk¬ 
ingum with the loss of several killed, while the Virginians, with the exception of their 
captain, had none killed and but three wounded. 

Steubenville is on the Ohio river, 22 miles above Wheeling, 35 
below Pittsburg and 147 e. by n. from Columbus. It derives its 
name from a fort, called Fort Steuben, erected on its site as early 
as 1789. It stood on High street, near the site of the female semi¬ 
nary. It was built of block-houses connected by palisade fences, 


JEFFERSON COUNTY. 


271 


and was dismantled at the time of Wayne’s victory, previous to 
which it had been garrisoned by U. S. infantry, under the command 
of Col. Beatty, father of the Rev. Dr. Beatty, of Steubenville. On 
the opposite side of the river then stood a block-house. 



Steubenville Female Seminary. 


The town was laid out in 1798, by Bezaleel Wells and the Hon. 
James Ross of Pennsylvania, from whom Ross county, in this state, 
derived its name. Mr. Ross, who has attained high honor, is yet 
living ; but Mr. Wells died poor, after having been at one time con¬ 
sidered the most wealthy person in eastern Ohio. On the 14th of 
February, 1805, the town was incorporated and the following officers 
appointed: David Hull, president; John Ward, recorder ; David 
Hog, Zacheus A. Beatty, Benj. Hough, Thos. Vincents, John Eng¬ 
land, Martin Andrews and Abm. Cazier, trustees ; Samuel Hunter, 
treasurer; Matthew Adams, assessor; Charles Maxwell, collector, 
and Anthony Beck, town marshall. 

Steubenville is situated upon a handsome and elevated plain, in 
the midst of beautiful scenery. The country adjacent is rich and 
highly cultivated, affording the finest soil for wheat and sheep. 
Messrs. Bezaleel Wells and Dickerson introduced the merino sheep 
at an early day, and established in the town, in 1814, a woolen 
manufactory, which laid the foundation for the extensive manufac- 






























































































272 


KNOX COUNTY. 


tures of the place. Steubenville contains about 30 mercantile stores, 

2 printing offices, (1 daily newspaper,) 1 Episcopal, 2 Presbyterian, 

3 Methodist, 1 Catholic, 1 Baptist, 1 Associate Reformed, 1 New 
Jerusalem and 1 church for persons of color, 1 bank, 5 woolen, 
1 paper, 1 cotton and 2 glass manufactories, 1 iron foundery and nu¬ 
merous other manufacturing and mechanical establishments. In the 
vicinity are 7 copperas manufactories. From 800 to 1000 hands are 
employed in these various establishments, and over a million bush¬ 
els of coal annually consumed, which is obtained from inexhaustible 
coal beds in the vicinity, at 3 cents per bushel. The town is very 
thriving and rapidly increasing. Its population in 1810, was 800 ; 
in 1820, 2,479 ; in 1830, 2,964 ; in 1840, 4,247, and in 1847, about 
7,000. 

Much attention is given to the cause of education in Steubenville. 
There are 5 public and 4 select schools, a male academy and a fe¬ 
male seminary. The male institution, called “ Grove academy,” is 
flourishing. It is under the charge of the Rev. John W. Scott, has 
3 teachers and 80 scholars. The female seminary is pleasantly sit¬ 
uated on the bank of the Ohio, commanding an extensive view of 
the river and the surrounding hills. It is under the charge of the 
Rev. Charles C. Beatty, D. D., superintendent, and Mrs. Hetty E. 
Beatty, principal. It was first established in the spring of 1829, and 
now receives only scholars over twelve years of age. It is in a 
very high degree flourishing, having a widely extended reputation. 
The establishment cost nearly $40,000, employs from 10 to 12 teach¬ 
ers and usually has 150 pupils, the full number which it can accom¬ 
modate. 

Mount Pleasant, 21 miles sw. of Steubenville, is a large and flour¬ 
ishing village, containing 4 churches, beside 2 Friends meeting 
houses, 8 or 10 stores, a female seminary, and by the census of 1840, 
had 666 inhabitants; and now has about 1000. Richmond, 11 nw. 
of S., has 5 stores, a classical academy for males, 2 churches, 1 
Friends meeting house and about 500 inhabitants. Smithfield, 14 
sw. of S., has about the same number of stores, churches and inhabi¬ 
tants, as Richmond. The following are names of villages in Jeffer¬ 
son, with their population in 1840: Warren 209, Knoxville 166, 
Springfield 138, Tiltonville 137, Portland 113, Wintersville 107, 
New Trenton 103, New Somerset 98, New Amsterdam 85, New¬ 
burgh 75, York 54 and Monroesville 49. 


KNOX. 

Knox was named from General Henry Knox, a native of Boston, 
general in the war of the revolution, and secretary of war in Wash¬ 
ington’s administration. It was formed from Fairfield, March 1st, 
1808. The north and east part is hilly—the central west and south 
part, undulating or level. The bottom lands of the streams are very 



KNOX COUNTY. 


273 


rich, particularly those of Vernon river, which stream affords abun¬ 
dance of water power. The principal productions are wheat, Indian 
corn, oats, tobacco, maple sugar, potatoes and wool. The following 
is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population. 

Berlin, 1100 Harrison, 833 Miller, 977 

Bloomfield, 1252 Hillier, 1012 Monroe, 1258 

Brown, 1204 Howard, 999 Morgan, ' 912 

Butler, 647 Jackson, ‘ 994 Morris, 1077 

Chester, 1297 Jefferson, 994 Pike, 1216 

Clay, 1304 Liberty, 1205 Pleasant, 888 

Clinton, 920 Middlebury, 1002 Union, 1098 

Franklin, 1343 Milford, 1157 

The population of Knox, in 1820, was 8,326, in 1830, 17,125, and 
in 1840, 29,584 ; or 48 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The early settlers of the county were mainly from the middle 
states, with some of New England origin. In 1805, Mount Vernon 
was laid out, and named by the proprietors of the soil, who were 
Joseph Walker, Thos. B. Paterson and Benj. Butler, from the seat of 
Washington. At this time, the county was thinly settled. Two 
years after, the principal settlers were, as far as their names are 
recollected, the Rileys, Darlings, Shriplins, Butlers, Kritchfields, 
Welkers, Dials, Logues, and De Witts, on Vernon river. In other 
parts of the county, the Hurds, Beams, Hunts and Dimick, Kerr, 
Ayres, Dalrymple, Houck, Hilliard, the Youngs, Mitchells, Bryants, 
Knights and Walkers. In the spring of 1807, there were only three 
families living on the plat of Mount Vernon, viz.: Benjamin Butler, 
tavern-keeper, from Penn., Peter Coyle, and James Craig. The 
early settlers of the village were, beside those named, Joseph and 
James Walker, Michael Click, David and Wm. Petigrue, Samuel 
Kratzer, Gilman Bryant, and Rev. James Smith, who came in 1808, 
and was the first Methodist clergyman. 

When the settlers first came, there were two wells, only a few 
rods apart, on the south bank of Vernon river, on the edge of the 
town, the origin of which remains unknown. They were built of 
neatly hammered stone, laid in regular masonry, and had the appear¬ 
ance of being overgrown with moss. Near by, was a salt lick, at 
which the Indians had been accustomed to encamp. Almost imme¬ 
diately after the first settlement, all traces of the wells were oblite¬ 
rated, as was supposed, by the Indians. A similar well was later 
brought to light, a mile and a half distant, by the plow of Philip 
Cosner, while plowing in a newly cleared piece of forest land. It 
was covered with poles and earth, and was about 30 feet deep. 

In the spring of 1807, Gilman Bryant opened the first store in Mt. 
Vernon, in a small sycamore cabin, in the western part of the town. 
A hewed log and shingle-roofed building stood on the northeast cor¬ 
ner of Wood and Main streets: it was the first tavern, and was kept 
.by Benj. Butler. The first frame building was put up in 1809, and is 
now standing on lot 138 Main street. The old court-house, erected 
about 1810, opposite the present court-house, on the public square, 

35 


274 


KNOX COUNTY. 


was the first brick building: it was two stories high, and thirty-six 
feet square. The first brick building was erected in the spring of 
1815, by Gilman Bryant, now standing next to and south of his pre¬ 
sent residence. The first church, the old school Presbyterian, (now 
down,) was built about 1817. It was of brick, 40 feet square, and 
one story high: the first pastor was the Rev. James Scott. The first 
licensed preacher in the county was the Rev. Wm. Thrift, a Baptist, 
from Loudon county, Va., who came in 1807, and travelled about 
from house to house. The first crops raised in the county were corn 
and potatoes. They were grown on the bottom lands, which were 
the first cleared : those lands were too rich for wheat, making “ sick 
wheat,” so termed, because when made into bread, it had the effect 
of an emetic, and produced feelings similar to sea-sickness. 

At an early day, the Indians, in great numbers, came to Mount 
Vernon to trade. They encamped on the river bank, and brought 
large quantities of furs and cranberries to dispose of for goods. The 
whites of the present day might take some beneficial hints from their 
method of trading at the store in this place. They walked in de¬ 
liberately and seated themselves, upon which the merchant presented 
each with a small piece of tobacco. Having lighted their pipes, 
they returned the residue to their pouches. These were made of a 
whole mink skin, dressed with the hair on, with a slit cut in the 
throat, as an opening. In it, they kept, also, some kinnickinnick 
bark, or sumach, which they always smoked with their tobacco, 
in the proportion of about three of the former to one of the lat¬ 
ter. After smoking and talking awhile together, one only at a time 
arose, went to the counter, and, taking up a yard stick, pointed to 
the first article he desired, and inquired the price. The questions 
were in this manner: “ how many buckskins for a shirt pattern V 9 or 
“ cloth for leggings V 9 &c. According to their skin currency, 

A muskrat skin was equal to a quarter of a dollar; a raccoon skin, a third of a dollar ; a 
doe skin, half a dollar, and a buck skin, “ the almighty dollar.” The Indian, learning the 
price of an article, payed for it by picking out and handing over the skins, before proceed¬ 
ing to purchase the second, when he repeated the process, and so on through the whole, 
paying for every thing as he went on, and never waiting for that purpose until he had 
finished. While the first Indian was trading, the others looked uninterruptedly on, and 
when he was through, another took his place, and so on, in rotation, until all had traded. 
No one desired to trade before his turn, and all observed a proper decorum, and never at¬ 
tempted to “ beat down,” but, if dissatisfied with the price, passed on to the next article. 
They were cautious not to trade while intoxicated ; but usually preserved some of their 
skins to buy liquor, and end their visit with a frolic. 

The early settlers in the town all felt as one family. If one got a piece of fresh meat, he 
shared it with his neighbors, and when a person was sick, all sympathized. At night, they 
met in each other’s cabins, to talk, dance, and take a social glass. There was no distinc¬ 
tion of party, for it was a social democracy. At their weddings, a puncheon table, formed 
like a bench, without a cloth, was covered with refreshments. These were plain and 
simple : wild turkeys, that had been gobbling about in the woods, were stewed and eaten 
with a relish ; corn, that had grown on the river flats, made into “ pone,” served as wed¬ 
ding cake ; while metheglin and whiskey, the only articles probably not indigenous, were 
the beverages that washed them down. Their plates were either of wood or pewter, per¬ 
haps both, and no two alike ; their knives, frequently butcher knives, and their forks often 
of wood. A dance was the finale of their festivities. They made merry on the puncheon 
floor to the music of the fiddle. Cotillions were unknown, while jigs, four-handed reels, 
the double shuffle and break down “ were all the rage.” 


KNOX COUNTY. 


275 


After Mount Vernon was laid out, the settlers from the region round about were accus¬ 
tomed to come into town on Saturdays, to clear the stumps out of the streets. Early in 
the afternoon they quitted work, and grew jolly over a large kettle of “ stew." This was 
made as follows : First, a huge kettle, of gallons’ capacity, was placed upon the ground, 
resting upon three stones, and a fire kindled under it. In it was put two or three buckets 
of water, a few pounds of maple sugar, a few ounces of allspice, which had been pounded in 
a rag, a pound of butter, and, finally, two or three gallons of whiskey. When boiled, the 
stew was taken off, a circle was formed around, and the men helped themselves liberally, 
with tin cups, to the liquor, told hunting stories, wrestled, ran, hopped and jumped, engaged 
in foot races, shot at mark for goods or tobacco purchased at the store, and occasionally 
enlivened the scene by a fight. 

Upon the organization of the county, there was a spirit of rivalry as to which should be 
the county seat, Mount Vernon or Clinton, a town laid out a mile and a half north, by 
Samuel Smith—then a place of the most population, now among the “ things that were.” 
The commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice, first entered Mount Vernon, and 
were received with the best cheer, at the log tavern of Mr. Butler. To impress them with 
an idea of the public spirit of the place, the people were very busy at the moment of their 
entrance and during their stay, at work, all with their coats off, grubbing the streets. As 
they left for Clinton, all quitted their labor, not “ of love and some rowdies, who dwelt in 
cabins scattered round about in the woods, away from the town, left “ the crowd,” and 
stealing ahead of the commissioners, arrived at Clinton first. On the arrival of the others 
at that place, these fellows pretended to be in a state not comformable to temperance prin¬ 
ciples, ran against the commissioners, and by their rude and boisterous conduct, so disgusted 
the worthy officials as to the apparent morals of the inhabitants of Clinton, that they re¬ 
turned and made known their determination that Mount Vernon should be the favored spot. 
That night, there were great rejoicings in town. Bonfires were kindled, stew made and 
drank, and live trees split with gunpowder. 

The first settler north of Mount Vernon, was Nathaniel M. Young, from Pa., who, in 
1803, built a cabin on the south fork of Vernon river, three miles west of Fredericktown. 
Mr. Young and his neighbors being much troubled with wolves, got together and made a 
written agreement to give nine bushels of corn for every wolfs scalp. In the winter of 
1805-6, Mr. Young, John Lewis and James Bryant caught forty-one wolves, in steel traps 
and pens. Wolf pens were about 6 feet long, 4 wide and 3 high, formed like a huge square 
box, of small logs, and floored with puncheons. The lid, also of puncheons, was very heavy, 
and moved by an axle at one end, made of a small, round stick. The trap was set by a 
figure four, with any kind of meat except that of wolfs, the animals being fonder of any 
other than their own. On gnawing the meat, the lid fell and enclosed the unamiable na¬ 
tive. Often, to have sport for the dogs, they pulled out the legs of a wolf through the 
crevices of the logs, hamstrung, and then let him loose, upon which the dogs sprang upon 
him, while he, crippled by the operation, made but an ineffectual resistance. In the ad¬ 
joining county of Delaware, a man, somewhat advanced in years, went into a wolf-trap to 
render the adjustment of the spring more delicate, when the trap sprung upon him, and, 
knocking him flat on his face, securely caught him as was ever any of the wolf species. He 
was unable to lift up the lid, and several miles from any house. There he lay all one day 
and night, and would have perished had not a passing hunter heard his groans and relieved 
him from his peril. 

Mount Vernon, the county seat, is 45 miles ne. of Columbus. It 
is beautifully situated on ground slightly ascending from Vernon 
river. The town is compactly and substantially built, and some of 
the dwellings elegant. Mai^, the principal business street, is about 
a mile in length, on which are many brick blocks, three stories in 
height. The view w r as taken in this street, at the southern extremity 
of the public square, looking north: on the left is shown the market 
and court-house, on the right, the Episcopal church, an elegant stone 
edifice, and in the centre, the tower of the # old school Presbyterian 
church and the jail. This flourishing town contains 2 Presbyterian, 
2 Methodist, 1 Baptist, 1 Lutheran, 1 Catholic and 1 Episcopal church, 
20 dry goods, 6 grocery, 2 hardware, 3 apothecary and 2 book 
stores ; 1 fulling, 4 grist and 5 saw mills, 3 newspaper printing offices, 


270 


KNOX COUNTY. 


and had, in 1840, 2,363 inhabitants, and has now over 3,000. The 
railroad, constructing from Sandusky City to Columbus, will connect 
this place with those. 



Public Square, Mount Vernon. 

Five miles east of Mount Vernon, on a beautiful, healthy and ele¬ 
vated ridge, encompassed on three sides by the Vernon river, is the 
village of Gambier, so named from lord Gambier, and widely known 
as the seat of Kenyon college. This town, exclusive of the college, 
contains about 200 inhabitants. It was laid out under the auspices 
of the venerable Bishop Chase, in July, 1826, in the center of a 4,000 
acre tract, belonging to Kenyon college. This institution was then 
founded, with funds obtained by Bishop Chase in England, and named 
after lord Kenyon, one of its principal benefactors. It was first 
chartered as a theological seminary. It is richly endowed, having 
^,000 acres of land, and its property is valued at $100,000. The 
college proper has about 50 students; the theological seminary about 
20; the senior grammar school about 20, and Slilnor Hall, an insti¬ 
tute for boys, about 25. In the various libraries are near 10 000 
volumes. 

The main college building is romantically situated. You enter a 
gate into a large area: in the foreground is a large grassv, cleared 
plat of several acres, on the right of which stands Rosse chapel, an 
elegant Grecian structure; on the left and below, is the beautiful 
Vernon valley, bounded by forest-clad hills, over which the eye 
passes in the perspective for mites and miles, until the blue of dis¬ 
tant hills and sky meet and blend in one. Through the centre of 
the grassy plat passes a footpath, which, at the distance of 200 yards 
continues its straight line in a narrow opening through a forest 
and teiminates at the college, about one third of a mile distant, the 
spire of which rises darkly above the green foliage, like that of an 
ancient abbey, while the main building is mostly concealed. The 
















KNOX COUNTY. 


277 


whole scene, the graceful, cheerful architecture of the chapel, on the 
right, the valley on the left, the pleasant, grassy green in front, the 
forest beyond, with the sombre, half-concealed" building in the dis¬ 
tance, give an ever-enduring impression. Standing at the gate, with 



Kenyan College. 


the back to the college, the scene changes: a broad avenue termi¬ 
nates at the distance of half a mile, at the head of which, in a com¬ 
manding position, faces Bexley Hall, a building appropriated to the 
theological seminary. It is a large, elegant, and highly ornamented 
Gothic structure, of a light color, with battlements and turrets, stand¬ 
ing boldly relieved against the blue sky, except its lower portion, 
where it is concealed by the shrubbery of a spacious yard in front. 
To the left, and near the Hall, an imposing residence, late occupied 
by Bishop M’llvaine, faces the avenue. Away off to the right, 
among the trees, is Milnor Hall, and scattered about in various 
directions, near and far, private dwellings, offices and various struc¬ 
tures, some plain and others adorned, some in full view and other*; 
partly hid by the undulations of the ground, trees and shrubbery. 

Fredericktown is a flourishing and well-built village, 7 miles nw. 
of Mount Vernon, which was laid out in 1807, by John Kerr. Ver¬ 
non river, on which it is situated, furnishes considerable water 
power: on the middle branch of that stream, near the village, are 
some ancient fortifications and mounds. The town contains 2 Pres¬ 
byterian, 2 Methodist and 1 Universalist church; 8 dry goods and 
1 grocery store, 2 grist, 2 saw, 2 carding and 2 fulling mills, and 
had, in 1840, 444 inhabitants—since which, it has increased. Ches- 
terville, 12 miles nw. from Mount Vernon, on Vernon river, has 2 
churches, 5 stores, 2 flouring mills, and about 400 inhabitants. 
Martinsburgh, 12 se. of the county seat, on the Zanesville road, has 
4 stores, 2 churches, an excellent academy, and about 400 inhabi¬ 
tants. Millwood, Bladensburgh, Amity, Danville, Centerburg, Mt. 
Liberty, Sparta, Palmyra and Mount Holly, are villages, the largest 
of which may contain 300 inhabitants. 
















278 


LAKE COUNTY. 


LAKE. 

Lake was formed March 6th, 1840, from Geauga and Cuyahoga, 
and so named from its bordering on Lake Erie. The surface is more 
rolling than level; the soil is good, and generally clayey loam, inter¬ 
spersed with ridges of sand and gravel. The principal crops are 
wheat, corn, oats, barley, buckwheat, hay and potatoes. Dairy 
products, beef cattle and wool are also among the staples. This 
county is peculiar for the quality and quantity of its fruit, as apples, 
pears, peaches, plums, grapes, &c. Many thousand dollars’ worth 
are annually exported, and many of its inhabitants leave every 
spring, to engage in the business of grafting at the south and west. 
The situation of this county is very favorable to the preservation of 
the fruit from the early frosts, the warm lake winds often preventing 
its destruction, while that some twenty miles inland, is cut off. Bog 
iron ore is found in large quantities in Perry and Madison, and there 
are several furnaces in the county. The following is a list of its 
townships in 1840, with their population: 

Concord, 1136 Madison, 2801 Perry, 1337 

Kirtland, 1777 Mentor, 1245 Willoughby, 1943 

Leroy, 898 Painesville, 2580 

Population of Lake, in 1840, 13,717, or 65 inhabitants to the 
square mile. 

Mentor was the first place settled in this county. In the summer of 1799, two families 
were there * Among the earliest settlers of Lake, was the Hon. John Walworth, who 
was born at New London, Ct., in 1765. 

When a young man, he spent five years at sea and in Demarara, South America. About 
the year 1792, he removed, with his family, to the then new country east of Cayuga lake. 
New York. In 1799, he visited Cleveland, and after his return, in the fall of that year, 
journeyed to Connecticut, purchased over two thousand acres of land in the present town¬ 
ship of Painesville, with the design of making a settlement. On the 20th of February, 
1800, he commenced the removal of his family and effects. They were brought on as far 
as Buffalo, in sleighs. At that place, after some little detention, the party being enlarged 
by the addition of some others, drove in two sleighs on to the ice of the lake, and pro¬ 
ceeded until abreast of Cattaraugus creek, at which point they were about ten miles from 
land. At dusk, leaving their sleighs and horses some 50 or 60 rods from shore, they made 
their camp under some hemlock trees, where all, men, women and children passed an 
agreeable night, its earlier hours being enlivened by good cheer and social converse. The 
next afternoon, they arrived at Presque isle, (now Erie, Pa.,) where, leaving his family, 
Mr. Walworth went back to Buffalo, for his goods. On his return to Erie, he, with his 
hired man and two horses and a yoke of oxen, followed the lake shore, and arrived in 
safety at his new purchase. His nearest neighbors east, were at Harpersfield, 15 miles 
distant. On the west, a few miles distant, within or near the present limits of Mentor, 
was what was then called the Marsh settlement, where was then living Judge Jesse Phelps, 
Jared Wood, Ebenezer Merry, Charles Parker and Moses Parks. Mr. Walworth soon re¬ 
turned to Erie, on foot, and brought out his family and effects in a flat boat, all arriving safe 
at the new home on the 7th of April. The first fortnight they lived in a tent, during which 
period the sun was not seen. About the expiration of this time, Gen. Edward Paine—the 
first delegate to the legislature from the Lake county, in the winter of 1801-2—arrived 
with seven or eight hired men, and settled about a mile distant. Mutually assisting each 
other, cabins were soon erected for shelter, and gradually the conveniences of civilization 
clustered around them. 


* Mrs. Tappan, in the mss. of the Ashtabula Historical Society. 



LAKE COUNTY. 


279 


Shortly after the formation of the state government, Mr. Walworth, Solomon Griswold, 
of Windsor, and Calvin Austin, of Warren, were appointed associate judges of Trumbull 
county. In 1805, Judge Walworth was appointed collector of customs for the district of 
Erie. In August, he opened the collector’s office at Cleveland, and in the March ensuing, 
removed his family thither. He held various offices until his decease, Sept. 10th, 1812, and 
was an extensive land agent. Judge Walworth was small in stature, and of weakly con¬ 
stitution. Prior to his removal to the west, it was supposed he had the consumption ; but 
to the hardships and fatigue he endured, and change of climate, his physicians attributed 
the prolongation of his life many years. He was a fearless man, and possessed of that 
indomitable perseverance and strength of will, especially important in overcoming the ob¬ 
stacles in the path of the pioneer.* 



View in Painesville. 


Painesville, the county seat, and the largest village between Cleve¬ 
land and Erie, Pa., is 31 miles e. of Cleveland, and 170 ne. of Co¬ 
lumbus. The Grand river skirts the village on the east, in a deep 
and picturesque valley. Painesville is one of the most beautiful 
villages in the west: it is somewhat scattered, leaving ample room 
for the cultivation of gardens, ornamental trees and shrubbery. A 
handsome public square of several acres, adorned with young trees, 
is laid out near the center of the town, on which face some public 
buildings and private mansions. The view represents the principal 
public buildings in the place. The first on the left, is the Methodist 
church; the building next, without a spire, tower or cupola, is the 
Disciple church; the one beyond, the Presbyterian church, and that 
most distant, the court house: these two last front the west side of 
the public square. Painesville is a flourishing town, containing 1 
Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Disciples and 1 Methodist church, 14 
mercantile stores, 1 flouring mill, 1 bank, 1 newspaper printing 
office, and has increased since 1840, when it had 1014 inhabitants. 
The Painesville academy is a classical institution for both sexes, and 
in fine repute: a large brick building is appropriated for its uses. 
Near the town is the Geauga furnace, which employs a heavy 
capital. 


* From the Barr mss. 



















280 


LAKE COUNTY. 


Painesville was laid out about the year 1805, by Henry Cham¬ 
pion, and originally named Champion: it was afterwards changed 
to that of the township which derived its name from Gen. Ed. Paine, 
a native of Connecticut, an officer of the revolution, and an early 
settler: he died only a few years since, at an advanced age, leaving 
the reputation of a warm hearted and excellent man. 

Among the aborigines familiarly known to the early settlers at 
Painesville, was a fine specimen of manhood, called by the whites, 
Seneca; by the Indians, Stigwanish , which, being rendered in 
English, signifies the Standing Stone. Says an old pioneer, in the 
Barr mss. : 

Whoever once saw him, and could not at once perceive the dignity of a Roman senator, 
the honesty of Aristides and the philanthropy of William Penn, must be unacquainted with 
physiognomy. He was never known to ask a donation, but would accept one exactly as 
he ought, when offered. But it was not suffered to rest there ; an appropriate return was 
sure to be made, and he would frequently be in advance. He drank cider or Malaga 
wine moderately, but was so much of a teetotaller, as to have abjured ardent spirits since 
the time when, in a drunken frenzy, he aimed a blow with his tomahawk at his wife, which 
split the head of the papoose on her back. He seldom wanted credit in his trading trans¬ 
actions, and when he did, there was no difficulty in obtaining it, as he was sure to make 
punctual payment in specie. Once, when himself and wife dined with us at Painesville, 
he took much trouble to instruct her in the use of the knife and fork. Vain attempt! his 
usual politeness forsook him, and bursts of immoderate laughter succeeded, in which we 
were all compelled to join. The last time I saw Seneca—the fine old fellow—was at 
Judge Walworth’s, in Cleveland, a short time before hostilities commenced with Great 
Britain. He expressed to me a fear that war was inevitable, and that the Indians, insti¬ 
gated by the British, would overwhelm our weak settlements; but gave the strongest assu¬ 
rances that if it should be possible, he would give us seasonable notice. If he was not 
prevented by age or infirmities from redeeming his pledge, he was probably killed by his 
own people, while endeavoring to leave their lines, or by some of ours, through a mistake 
of his character. 

The Hon. Samuel Huntington, who was governor of the state 
from 1808 to 1810, resided at Painesville, in the latter part of his 
life, and died there in 1817. Prior to his removal to Painesville, he 
resided at Cleveland. One evening, while travelling towards Cleve¬ 
land from the east, he was attacked, about two miles from the town, 
by a pack of wolves, and such was their ferocity, that he broke his 
umbrella to pieces in keeping them off, to which, and the fleetness 
of his horse, he owed the preservation of his life. 

Three miles below Painesville, at the mouth of Grand river, is 
Fair port, laid out in 1812, by Samuel Huntington, Abraham Skinner, 
Seymour and Calvin Austin, and Simon Perkins. The first ware¬ 
house in this region, and perhaps on the lake, was built about 1803, 
on the river, two miles above, by Abraham Skinner, near which, in 
the dwelling of Mr. Skinner, the first court in the old county of 
Geauga, was held. Fairport has one of the best harbors on the 
lake, and so well defended from winds, and easy of access, that 
vessels run in when they cannot easily make other ports. The 
water is deep enough for any lake craft, and about $60,000 has been 
expended in improving the harbor, by the general government. 
Lake steamers stop here, and considerable commerce is carried on. 
Fairport contains 8 forwarding houses, several groceries, from 20 


LAKE COUNTY. 


281 


to 40 dwellings, and a light house, and a beacon to guide the mar- 
iner on the fresh water sea. 

Richmond, one mile above Fairport, on the opposite and west 
side of the river, was laid out about ten years ago, in the era of 
speculation. A large village was built, a steamboat was owned 
there, and great things promised. Not having the natural elements 
of prosperity, it soon waned, some of its dwellings were removed to 
Painesville, while many others, deserted and decaying, are left to 
mark the spot. 



Medical University, etc., Willoughby. 


The neat and pleasant village of Willoughby, is on Chagrin river, 
2j miles from its mouth, 19 miles from Cleveland, and 11 east of 
Painesville. The village and township were originally called Cha¬ 
grin, and changed, in 1834, to the present name, in honor of Prof. 
Willoughby, of Herkimer county, N. Y. It was settled about 
the year 1799, by David Abbot, (see page 156,) Peter French, 
Jacob West, Ebenezer Smith, Elisha Graham and others. Abbot 
built the first grist mill on the site of the Willoughby mills: Smith 
was the first man who received a regular deed of his land from the 
Connecticut land company. Jn 1796, Charles Parker, one of the 
surveyors, built a house at the mouth of the river, and a number of 
huts for the use of the land company: the house was the first erected 
in the township, and probably the first in the county. Parker be¬ 
came a settler in 1802; in 1803 and 1804, John Miller, Christopher 
Colson, James Lewis and Jacob West settled in Willoughby. Dr. 
Henderson, the first regular physician, came in 1813, and the first 
organized town meeting was held April 3d, 1815. A bloody battle, 
says tradition, was fought at an early day between the Indians, on 
the spot where the medical college stands: human bones have been 
discovered, supposed to be of those who fell in thaYaction. 

The village of Willoughby contains 4 stores, 2 churches, 18 me¬ 
chanic shops, 1 fulling mill, and in 1840, had 390 inhabitants. The 
engraving shows, on the right, the Presbyterian church, on the left, 
the Methodist church, and in the centre, on a pleasant green, the Med¬ 
ical University, a spacious brick edifice. This flourishing and well 
conducted institution, was founded in 1834 : its number of pupils has 

36 


282 


LAKE COUNTY. 


been gradually increasing, and in 1846, its annual circular showed 
174 students in attendance. The moderate expenses of the institute, 
the low price of board—from $1.25 to $1.50 per week—give it ad¬ 
vantages to those of moderate means. Its president is Amasa Trow¬ 
bridge, who, with seven other professors, and an anatomical demon¬ 
strator, form an ample corps of instructors. 

Kirtland is 9 miles southwest from Painesville, in a fine country, 
on an elevation on the southern side of a branch of Chagrin river, 
which here runs in a deep and romantic valley, interspersed with 
dwellings, cultivated farms and woodland. The village, at this time, 
contains about 250 inhabitants. The Western Reserve Teacher’s 
Seminary, situated here, has 216 pupils of both sexes, is under the 
charge of Asa D. Lord, with several assistants, and is exerting a 
beneficial influence upon the cause of education in this region. 

This village is widely known, from having formerly been the 
head quarters of the Mormons. While here, in the height of their 
prosperity, they numbered nearly 3000 persons. On their abandon¬ 
ing it, most of the dwellings went to decay, and it now has some¬ 
what the appearance of a depopulated and broken down place. 
The view taken, shows the most prominent buildings in the village. 
In the center, is seen the Mormon Temple ; on the right, the Teach¬ 
er’s Seminary, and on the left, on a line with the front of the temple, 
the old banking house of the Mormons. The temple, the main point 
of attraction, is 60 by 80 feet, and measures from its base to the top 
of the spire, 142 feet. It is of rough stone, plastered over, colored 
blue, and marked to imitate regular courses of masonry. It cost 
about $40,000. In front, over the large window, is a tablet, bearing 
the inscription: “ House of the Lord, built by the church of the 
Latter Day Saints, A. D. 1834.” The first and second stories are 
divided into two “ grand rooms” for public worship. The attic is 
partitioned off into about a dozen small apartments. The lower 
grand room is fitted up with seats as an ordinary church, with can¬ 
vas curtains hanging from the ceiling, which, on the occasion of 
prayer meetings, are let down to the tops of the slips, dividing the 
room into several different apartments, for the use of the separate 
collections of worshipers. At each end of the room is a set of 
pulpits, four in number, rising behind each other. Each pulpit is 
calculated for three persons, so that when they are full, twelve per¬ 
sons occupy each set, or twenty-four persons the two sets. These 
pulpits were for the officers of the priesthood. The set at the farther 
end of the room, are for the Melchisedek priesthood, or those who 
minister in spiritual concerns. The set opposite, near the entrance 
to the room, are for the Aaronic priesthood, whose duty it is to 
simply attend to the temporal affairs of the society. These pulpits 
all bear initials, signifying the rank of their occupants. 

On the Melchisedek side, are the initials P. E., i. e. President of 
the Elders; M. P. H., President of the High Priests; P. M. H., 
Pres, of the High Council, and M. P. C., Pres, of the Full Church. 
On the Aaronic pulpits, are the initials P. D., i. e . President of Dea- 


LAKE COUNTY 


283 


cons; P. T. A., President of the Teachers; P. A. P., Pres, of the 
Aaronic Priesthood, and B. P. A., Bishop of the Aaronic Priesthood. 
The Aaronic priesthood were rarely allowed to preach, that being 
the especial duty of the higher order, the Melchisedek. 



Mormon Temple , at Kirtland. 

We have received a communication from a resident of Kirtland, 
dated in the autumn of 1846. It contains some facts of value, and 
is of interest as coming from an honest man, who has been a sub¬ 
ject of the Mormon delusion, but whose faith, we are of opinion, is 
of late somewhat shaken. 

The Mormons derive their name from their belief in the book of Mormon, which is 
said to have been translated from gold plates found in a hill, in Palmyra, N. Y. They 
came to this place in 1832, and commenced building their temple, which they finished in 
1835. When they commenced building the temple, they were few in number, but before 
they had finished it, they had increased to two thousand. 

There are in the church two Priesthoods—the Melchisedek and the Aaronic, including 
the Levitical, from which they derive their officers. This place, which they hold to be a stake 
of Zion, was laid off in half acres for a space of one square mile. When it was mostly 
sold, they bought a number of farms in this vicinity, at a very high price, and were deeply 
in debt for goods in New York, which were the causes of their eventually leaving for Mis¬ 
souri. They established a bank at Kirtland, from which they issued a number of thousand 
more dollars than they had specie, which gave their enemies power over them, and those 
bills became useless. 





























































284 


LAKE COUNTY. 


They adhered to their prophet, Smith, in all things, and left here in 1837, seven hun¬ 
dred in one day. They still hold this place to be a stake of Zion, to be eventually a place 
of gathering. There is a president with his two counsellors, to preside over this stake. 
The president is the highest officer; next is the high priest, below whom are the elders,— 
all of the Melchisedek priesthood. The lesser priesthood are composed of priests, 
teachers and deacons. They have twelve apostles, whose duty it is to travel and preach 
the gospel. There are seventy elders or seventies, a number of whom are travelling 
preachers: seven of the seventies preside over them. There were two seventies organi¬ 
zed in Kirtlnnd. They ordain most of the male members to some office. They have a 
bishop with two counsellors, to conduct the affairs of the church in temporal things, and set in 
judgment upon difficulties which may arise between members ; but there is a higher court 
to which they can appeal, called the high council, which consists of twelve high priests. 
The president and his council set as judges over either of these courts. There are, how¬ 
ever, three presidents who preside over the whole in all the world—so termed. 

The method of conducting worship among the Mormons is similar to other denomina¬ 
tions. The first ordinance is baptism for the remission of sins; they lay on hands for the 
gift of the Holy Ghost, and to heal the sick ; anoint with oil; administer the sacrament; 
take little children and bless them ; they hold to all the gifts of the Apostolic church, be¬ 
lieving there is no true church without them, and have the gift of speaking in different 
tongues ; they sometimes interpret for themselves, but commonly there is some one to inter¬ 
pret for them. 

A prophet has lately risen among the Mormons, viz.: James J. Strang, of Wisconsin, 
w r ho claims to be the successor of Joseph Smith. He has been with them only about two 
years, and was a young lawyer of western New York. He claims to have received com¬ 
munications from Heaven, at the very hour of Smith’s death, commissioning him to lead 
the people. He has established a stake in Walworth county, Wisconsin, called the city of 
Voree, by interpretation, signifying “ Garden of Peace,” to which they are gathering, from 
Nauvoo and other places. He has lately visited Kirtland and re-established it as a stake 
of Zion, and organized the church with all its officers. There are now here about 100 
members, who are daily increasing, and it is thought the place will be built up. 

Strang is said to have found plates of brass or some other metal. He was directed by 
an angel, who gave him a stone to look through, by which he made the discovery. They 
were found three feet under ground, beneath an oak of a foot in diameter. These he has 
translated: they give an account of a race who once inhabited that land, and became a 
fallen people. Strang preaches pure bible doctrine, and receives only those who walk 
humbly before their God. 

The Mormons still use the temple at Kirtland. This sect is now 
divided into three factions, viz.: the Rigdonites, the Twelveites, and 
the Strangites. The Rigdonites are the followers of Sidney Rig- 
don, and are but a few in number. The Twelveites—so named 
after their twelve apostles—are very fanatical, and hold to the spirit¬ 
ual wife system and the plurality of Gods. The Strangites main¬ 
tain the original doctrines of Mormonism, and are located at this 
place and Voree. 

We derive, from a published source, a brief historical sketch of 
Mormonism. 

Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, was born in Sharon, Vermont, Dec. 23d, 
1805, and removed to Manchester, Ontario county, N. Y., about the year 1815, at an early 
age, with his parents, who were in quite humble circumstances. He was occasionally em¬ 
ployed in Palmyra as a laborer, and bore the reputation of a lazy and ignorant young man. 
According to the testimony of respectable individuals in that place, Smith and his father 
were persons of doubtful moral character, addicted to disreputable habits, and moreover, 
extremely superstitious, believing in the existence of witchcraft. They at one time procu¬ 
red a mineral rod, and dug in various places for money. Smith testified that when digging 
he had seen the pot or chest containing the treasure, but never was fortunate enough to get it 
into his hands. He placed a singular looking stone in his hat, and pretended by the light 
of it to make many wonderful discoveries of gold, silver and other treasures, deposited in 
the earth. He commenced his career as the founder of the new sect, when about the age 
of 18 or 19, and appointed a number of meetings in Palmyra, for the purpose of declaring 
the divine revelations which he said were made to him. He was, however, unable to pro- 


LAKE COUNTY, 


285 


duce any excitement in the village ; but very few had curiosity sufficient to listen to him. 
Not having means to print his revelations he applied to Mr. Crane, of the society of Friends, 
declaring that he was moved by the Spirit to call upon him for assistance. This gentle¬ 
man bid him go to work, or the state-prison would end his career. Smith had better suc¬ 
cess with Martin Harris, an industrious and thrifty farmer of Palmyra, who was worth 
about $10,000, and who became one of his leading disciples. By his assistance, 5,000 
copies of the Mormon bible (so called) were published, at an expense of about $3,000. 
It is possible that Harris might have made the advances with the expectation of a. profita¬ 
ble speculation, as a great sale was anticipated. This work is a duodecimo volume con¬ 
taining 590 pages, and is, perhaps, one of the weakest productions ever attempted to be 
palmed off as a divine revelation. It is mostly a blind mass of words, interwoven with 
scriptural language and quotations, without much of a leading plan or design. 

Soon after the publication of the Mormon bible, one Parley B. Pratt, a resident of Lor- 
rain county, Ohio, happening to pass through Palmyra, on the canal, and hearing of the 
new religion, called on the prophet, and was soon converted. Pratt was intimate with 
Sidney Rigdon, a very popular preacher of the denomination called “ Reformers,” or “ Dis¬ 
ciples.” About the time of the arrival of Pratt at Manchester, the Smiths were fitting out 
an expedition for the western country, under the command of Cowdery, in order to convert 
the Indians, or Lamanites, as they termed them. In October, 1830, this mission, consist¬ 
ing of Cowdery, Pratt, Peterson and Whitmer, arrived at Mentor, Ohio, the residence of 
Rigdon, well supplied with the new bibles. Near this place, in Kirtland, there were a few 
families belonging to Rigdon’s congregation, who, having become extremely fanatical, were 
daily looking for some wonderful event to take place in the world: 17 of these persons 
readily believed in Mormonism, and were all re-immersed in one night by Cowdery. By 
the conversion of Rigdon soon after, Mormonism received a powerful impetus, and more 
than 100 converts were speedily added. Rigdon visited Smith at Palmyra, where he tar¬ 
ried about tvtfo months, receiving revelations, preaching, &c. He then returned to Kirt¬ 
land, Ohio, and was followed a few days after by the prophet, Smith, and his connexions. 
Thus, from a state of almost beggary, the family of Smith were furnished with the “ fat 
of the land” by their disciples, many of whom were wealthy. 

A Mormon temple was erected at Kirtland, at an expense of about $40,000. In this 
building there was a sacred apartment, a kind of holy of holies, in which none but the 
priests were allowed to enter. An unsuccessful application was made to the legislature for 
the charter of a bank. Upon the refusal, they established an unchartered institution, com¬ 
menced their banking operations, issued their notes, and made extensive loans. The society 
now rapidly increased in wealth and numbers, of whom many were doubtless drawn 
thither by mercenary motives. But the bubble at last burst. The bank being an unchar¬ 
tered institution, the debts due were not legally collectable. With the failure of this in¬ 
stitution, the society rapidly declined, and Smith was obliged to leave the state to avoid the 
sheriff. Most of the sect, with their leader, removed to Missouri, where many outrages 
were perpetrated against them. The Mormons raised an armed force to “ drive off the 
infidels,” but were finally obliged to leave the state. 

The last stand taken by the Mormons was at Nauvoo, Ill., a beautiful location on the 
Mississippi river. Here they erected a splendid temple, 120 feet in length by 80 in width, 
around which they built their city, which at one time contained about 10,000 inhabitants. 
Being determined to have thefr own laws and regulations, the difficulties which attended 
their sojourn in other places followed them here, and there was constant collision between 
them and the surrounding inhabitants. By some process of law, Joseph Smith (the pro¬ 
phet) and his brother Hyram were confined in the debtor’s apartment in the jail at Car¬ 
thage, in the vicinity of Nauvoo, and a guard of 8 or 10 men were stationed at the jail for 
their protection. While here, it appears a mob of about 60 men, in disguise, broke through 
the guard, and firing into the prison, killed both Joseph Smith and brother, Hyram, June 
27th, 1844. Their difficulties still continued, and they determined to remove once more. 

In 1840, a work was published at Painesville, by E. D. Howe, 
called a “ History of Mormonism,” which gives almost conclusive 
evidence that the historical part of the book of Mormons was writ¬ 
ten by one Solomon Spalding. From this work we derive the fol¬ 
lowing facts. 

Mr. Spalding was born in Connecticut, in 1761, graduated at 
Dartmouth, and having failed in mercantile business, removed in 1809 
to Conneaut, in the adjoining county of Ashtabula. About the year 


28G 


LAKE COUNTY. 


1812, his brother, John, visited him at that place. He gives the 
following testimony: 

He then told me he had been writing a book, which he intended to have printed, the 
avails of which he thought would enable him to pay all his debts. The book was entitled 
the “Manuscript Found,” of which he read to me many passages. It was an historical 
romance of the first settlers of America, endeavoring to show that the American Indians 
are the descendants of the Jews, or the lost tribes. It gave a detailed account of their 
journey from Jerusalem, by land and sea, till they arrived in America, under the command 
of NEPIII and LEHI. They afterwards had quarrels and contentions, and separated into 
two distinct nations, one of which he denominated Nephites, and the other Lamanites. 
Cruel and bloody wars ensued, in which great multitudes were slain. They buried their 
dead in large heaps, which caused the mounds so common in this country. Their arts, 
, sciences and civilization were brought into view, in order to account for all the curious 
antiquities found in various parts of North and South America. I have recently read the 
Book of Mormon, and to my great surprise, I find nearly the same historical matter, names, 
&c., as they were in my brother’s writings. I well remember that he wrote in the old 
style, and commenced about every sentence with “ and it came to pass,” or “ now it came 
to pass,” the same as in the Book of Mormon, and according to the best of my recollection 
and belief, it is the same as my brother Solomon wrote, with the exception of the religious 
matter. By what means it has fallen into the hands of Joseph Smith, jr., I am unable to 
determine. JOHN' SPALDING. 

Mr. Henry Lake, of Conneaut, also states: 

I left the state of New York, late in the year, 1810, and arrived at this place the 1st of 
January following. Soon after my arrival, I formed a co-partnership with Solomon Spald¬ 
ing, for the purpose of rebuilding a forge which he had commenced a year or two before. 
He very frequently read to me from a manuscript which he was writing, w r hich he entitled 
the “ Manuscript Found,” and which he represented as being found in this town. I spent 
many hours in hearing him read said writings, and became well acquainted with its con¬ 
tents. He wished me to assist him in getting his production printed, alledging that a book 
of that kind would meet with a rapid sale. I designed doing so, but the forge not meeting our 
anticipations, we failed in business, when I declined having any thing to do with the publi¬ 
cation of the book. This book represented the American Indians as the descendants of 
the lost tribes, gave an account of their leaving Jerusalem, their contentions and wars, 
which were many and great. One time, when he was reading to 'me the tragic account of 
Laban, I pointed out to him what I considered an inconsistency, which he promised to cor¬ 
rect ; but by referring to the Book of Mormon, I find to my surprise that it stands there 
just as he read it to me then. Some months ago I borrowed the Golden Bible, put it into 
my pocket, carried it home, and thought no more of it. About a week after, my wife 
found the book in my coat pocket, as it hung up, and commenced reading it aloud as I lay 
upon the bed. She had not read twenty minutes till I was astonished to find the same 
passages in it that Spalding had read to me more than twenty years before, from his “ Man¬ 
uscript Found.” Since that, I have more fully examined the said Golden Bible, and have 
no hesitation in saying that the historical part of it is principally, if not wholly taken from 
the “ Manuscript Found.” I well recollect telling Mr. Spalding, that the so frequent use 
of the words “ And it came to pass,” “ Now it came to pass,” rendered it ridiculous. 
Spalding left here in 1812, and I furnished him means to carry him to Pittsburgh, where he 
said he would get the book printed, and pay me. But I never heard any more from him 
or his writings, till I saw them in the Book of Mormon. HENRY LAKE. 

The testimony of six other witnesses is produced in the work of 
Mr. Howe, all confirming the main facts as above given. As Mr. 
Spalding was vain of his writings, and was constantly showing them 
to his neighbors, reliable testimony to the same general facts might 
have been greatly multiplied. 

The disposition Spalding made of his manuscripts is not known. 
From Conneaut, Spalding removed to Pittsburgh, about the year 

1813, remained there a year or two, and from thence went to Amity, 
in the same state, where he died in 1816. His widow stated that 
while they resided at Pittsburgh, she thinks that the “ Manuscript 


LAKE COUNTY. 


287 


Found” was once taken to the printing office of Patterson & Lamb- 
din, but did not know whether it was ever returned. We again 
quote verbatim from the work of Mr. Howe. 

Having established the fact, therefore, that most of the names and leading incidents con¬ 
tained in the Mormon bible, originated with Solomon Spalding, it is not very material, as 
we conceive, to show the way and manner by which they fell into the hands of the Smith 
family. To do this, however, we have made some inquiries. 

It was inferred at once that some light might be shed upon the subject, and the mystery 
revealed, by applying to Patterson & Lambdin, in Pittsburgh. But here again death had 
interposed a barrier. That establishment was dissolved and broken up many years since, 
and Lambdin died about eight years ago. Mr. Patterson says he has no recollection of any 
such manuscript being brought there for publication, neither would he have been likely to 
have seen it, as the business of printing was conducted wholly by Lambdin at that time. 
He says, however, that many MS. books and pamphlets were brought to the office about 
that time, which remained upon their shelves for years, without being printed or even exam¬ 
ined. Now, as Spalding’s book can no where be found, or any thing heard of it after being 
carried to this establishment, there is the strongest presumption that it remained there in se¬ 
clusion, till about the year 1823 or ’24, at which time Sidney Higdon located himself in 
that city. We have been credibly informed that he was on terms of intimacy with Lamb¬ 
din, being seen frequently in his shop. Rigdon resided in Pittsburgh about three years, and 
during the whole of that time, as he has since frequently asserted, abandoned preaching and 
all other employment, for the purpose of studying the bible. He left there, and came into 
the county where he now resides, about the time Lambdin died, and commenced preaching 
some new points of doctrine, which were afterwards found to be inculcated in the Mormon 
bible. He resided in this vicinity about four years previous to the appearance of the book, 
during which time he made several long visits to Pittsburgh, and perhaps to the Susquehan- 
nah, where Smith was then digging for money, or pretending to be translating plates. It 
may be observed, also, that about the time Rigdon left Pittsburgh, the Smith family began 
to tell about finding a book that would contain a history of the first inhabitants of America, 
and that two years elapsed before they finally got possession of it. 

We are, then, irresistibly led to this conclusion:—that Lambdin, after having failed in bu¬ 
siness, had recourse to the old manuscripts then in his possession, in order to raise the wind, 
by a book speculation, and placed the “ Manuscript Found,” of Solomon Spalding, in the 
hands of Rigdon, to be embellished, altered, and added to, as he might think expedient; 
and three years’ study of the bible we should deem little time enough to garble it, as it is 
transferred to the Mormon book. The former dying, left the latter the sole proprietor, 
who was obliged to resort to his wits, and in a miraculous way to bring it before the world ; 
for in no other manner could such a book be published without great sacrifice. And where 
could a more suitable character be found than Jo Smith, whose necromantic fame of arts 
and of deception, had already extended to a considerable distance 1 That Lambdin was a 
person every way qualified and fitted for such an enterprise, we have the testimony of his 
partner in business, and others of his acquaintance. Add to all these circumstances, the 
facts, that Rigdon had prepared the minds in a great measure, of nearly a hundred of those 
who had attended his ministration, to be in readiness to embrace the first mysterious ism 
that should be presented—the appearance of Cowdery at his residence as soon as the book 
was printed—his sudden conversion, after many pretensions to disbelieve it—his immedi¬ 
ately repairing to the residence of Smith, 300 miles distant, where he was forthwith appoint¬ 
ed an elder, high priest, and a scribe to the prophet—the pretended vision that his residence 
in Ohio was the “ promised land,”—the immediate removal of the whole Smith family 
thither, where they were soon raised from a state of poverty to comparative affluence. Wc, 
therefore, must hold out Sidney Rigdon to the world, as being the original “ author and 
proprietor” of the whole Mormon conspiracy, until further light is elicited upon the lost 
writings of Solomon Spalding. 

Seven miles southerly from Painesville, is a small and abrupt emi¬ 
nence, of about 200 feet in height, called “ Little Mountain .” A 
hotel is kept on the summit, and it commands a beautiful prospect of 
the adjacent country and Lake Erie, distant 10 miles. It is much 
visited, and is a favorite resort from the heats of summer. A cool 
breeze generally blows from the lake, to brace the nerves of the vis¬ 
itor, while around and below, the earth is clothed in beauty. Center- 


288 


LAWRENCE COUNTY. 


ville, 12 miles east of the county seat, has 3 stores, 2 churches, and 
about 80 dwellings, scattered along the road for about a mile. Two 
and a half miles e. of the above, on the line of Ashtabula, is Union- 
ville, which contains 4 stores, 2 churches, and about 100 dwellings, 
scattered along the road. 


LAWRENCE. 


Lawrence was organized March 1st, 1816, and named from Capt. 
James Lawrence, a native of Burlington, N. J., and a gallant naval 
officer of the war of 1812. Most of the county consists of high, ab¬ 
rupt hills, in which large quantities of sand or free stone exist: soil 
mostly clay. It is thinly settled, only about half the county having 
been, as yet, purchased of the general government. There is some 
rich land on the creek bottoms, and on that of the Ohio river, on 
which, and at the iron furnaces, are the principal settlements. This 
county is rich in minerals, and is the greatest iron manufacturing 
county in Ohio. Coal abounds in the western part, while clay, suit¬ 
able for stone ware, is found under the ore, in the whole of the iron 
region. The agricultural products, which are small in quantity, are 
wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, hay and apples. The following is a list 
of the townships in 1840, with their population : 

Aid, 610 Lawrence, 425 Symmes, 472 

Decatur, 594 Mason, 695 Union, 1036 

Elizabeth, 1534 Perry, 663 Upper, 1181 

Fayette, 841 Rome, 879 Windsor, 815 

The population of Lawrence, in 1820, was 3,499 ; in 1830, 6,366 ; 
and in 1840, 9,745, or 23 inhabitants to the square mile. 

In the Indian war, prior to the treaty of Greenville, many boats, de¬ 
scending the Ohio, were attacked by the Indians, and the whites in 
them cruelly massacred. After the war had closed, wrecks of boats 
were frequently seen on the shore, to remind the traveller of the un¬ 
happy fate of those who had fallen a prey to the rifle, tomahawk and 
scalping-knife. Among the unpublished incidents of this nature, is 
one that belongs to the history of this county, obtained orally from 
one acquainted with the circumstances. 


Among the early settlers of Mason County, Ky., was Mr. James Kelly, who emigrated 
from Westmoreland, Pa. Shortly after his arrival, the Indians carried on their murderous 
incursions with so much energy, as to seriously threaten the annihilation of the infant set¬ 
tlements. His father, alarmed for his safety, sent another son, William, to Kentucky, to 
bring his brother and family back to Pennsylvania. They embarked at Maysville, in a 
large canoe, with two men as passengers, who were to assist in navigating the boat. When 
about a mile below the mouth of the Big Guyandotte, and near the Virginia shore, they 
were suddenly fired upon by a party of Indians, secreted behind the trees on that bank of 
the river. William, who had risen up in the boat, was shot through the body, when James 
sprang up to save him from falling into the river, and receiving a death wound, fell for¬ 
wards in the boat. The two men, as yet unharmed, steered for the Ohio shore. The in¬ 
stant the boat touched land, one of them, panic-stricken, sprang ashore, and running into 
the recesses of the forest, was never heard of more. The other passenger, however, was a 



LAWRENCE COUNTY. 


289 


man of undaunted courage. He determined to protect Mrs. Kelly and her little children, 
consisting of James, a boy of about 5 years of age, and an infant named Jane. They 
landed, and turned their course for Gallipolis, about 30 miles distant. In their haste, they 
had forgotten to get any provisions from the boat, and the prospect of reaching there, through 
a wilderness swarming with Indians, was gloomy. To add to the horrors of their situation, 
they had gone but a few miles, when Mrs. Kelly was bitten in the foot by a copper-head, 
and was unable to make farther progress. As the only resort, her companion told her that 
he must leave her alone in the woods, and travel to Gallipgjis, procure a boat and a party, 
and come for her. Having secreted them among some pawpaws, he started on his solitary 
and perilous journey. The Indians were soon on his track, in hot pursuit; and taking in¬ 
land to avoid them, three or four days elapsed ere he arrived at the point of destination. 
He there obtained a keel boat, and a party of thirty men, and started down the Ohio, with 
but a faint hope of finding Mrs. Kelly and her little ones alive. 

During his absence, Mrs. Kelly had been accustomed, daily, to send her little son to the 
river’s edge, to hail any boats that might pass. Fearing a decoy from the Indians, several 
went by without paying any attention to his cries. An hour or two before the arrival of the 
aid from Gallipolis, another boat, from farther up the river, passed down. At first, but lit¬ 
tle attention was given to the hailing of little James ; but feelings of humanity prevailed 
over their fears, and reflecting also upon the improbability of the Indians sending such a 
mere child as a decoy, they took courage, turned to the shore, and took the sufferers aboard. 
They were then in a starving and deplorable condition; but food was soon given them by 
the kind-hearted boatmen, and their perils were over. Soon the Gallipolis boat hove in 
sight, and they were taken on board, and eventually to Pennsylvania. 

Mrs. Kelly, in the course of a few years, married again. The infant Jane grew up to 
womanhood, and was remarkable for her beauty. The little boy James finally emigrated to 
the Muskingum country. From him and his mother our informant derived these facts. 

Lawrence was settled about 1797, by people from Pennsylvania 
and Virginia, who were principally of Dutch and Irish descent. 
When the iron works were first established, only about one eighth 
of the land was entered, since which, the workmen have accumulated 
means to purchase more. At that day, the inhabitants were princi¬ 
pally hunters, and for months together, our informant says, he did not 
see one wear a coat or shoes; hunting shirts and moccasons being 
the substitutes. 

The iron region is about eight miles wide. It extends through the 
east part of Scioto, and the west part of this county, and enters Jack- 
son county on the north, and Greenup county, Ky., on the south. 
Most of the iron in Lawrence is made into pig metal, which stands 
high for castings, and is equal to Scotch pig for foundery furnaces: it 
is also excellent for bar iron. The principal markets are Pittsburgh 
and Cincinnati. The four counties of Jackson, Lawrence, Scioto, 
and Greenup, Ky., make about 37,450 tons annually, which, at $30 
per ton, the current market price, amQunts to $1,123,500. There 
are 21 furnaces in the iron region, of which the following are ill 
Lawrence, viz., Union, Pine Grove, Lawrence, Center, Mount Vernon, 
Buckhorn, Etna, Vesuvius, La Grange, Hecla, and Olive. The old¬ 
est of these, in this county, is Union, a view of which is given, show¬ 
ing on the left, the furnace, in the middle ground, the log huts of the 
workmen, with the store of the proprietors, while around is wild, 
hilly scenery, amid which these furnaces are usually embosomed. 
Each of the 21 furnaces employs, on an average, 70 yoke of oxen, 
“ 100 hands, sustain 500 persons, consume 560 barrels of flour, 1000 
bushels of corn meal, 10,000 bushels of corn, 50,000 pounds of ba¬ 
con, 20,000 pounds of beef, 1500 bushels of potatoes, beside other 
provisions, and tea, sugar and coffee in proportion.” From this it 


200 


LAWRENCE COUNTY. 


will be seen, that their existence is highly important to the agri¬ 
culturist. In the winter season, about 500 men come from abroad, 
to cut wood for the furnaces in Lawrence; some of whom walk 
distances of hundreds of miles from their cabin homes among the 
mountains of Virginia and Kentucky. 



Union Furnace. 

Burlington, the county seat, is on the southernmost point of the 
Ohio river in the state, 133 miles southeasterly from Columbus. It 
is a small village, containing 4 stores, an academy, 1 or 2 churches, a 
newspaper printing office, and from 40 to 60 dwellings. 

When Lawrence was first organized, the commissioners neglected 
to lay a tax, and the expenses of the county were carried on by or¬ 
ders, which so depreciated that the clerk had to pay $6, in orders, for 
a quire of paper. The county was finally sued on an order, and 
judgment obtained for the plaintiff, but as the public property could 
not be levied upon, not any thing was then recovered. Eventually, 
the legislature passed laws compelling the commissioners to lay a 
tax, by which the orders were paid in full, with interest. 

The annexed report of a case, that came before the court of com¬ 
mon pleas in this county, is from the pen of a legal gentleman of high 
standing. It shows that in our day, the belief in witchcraft has not 
entirely vanished. 

Lawrence Common Fleas. Term 1828. Action on the case, for 
a false warranty in the sale of a horse. Plea, general issue. 


Enoch II. Fleece. ) The plaintiff having proved the sale and warranty, called a witness 
to prove the defendant’s knowledge of the unsoundness of the horse at the time of sale. 
This witness testified, that both he and defendant lived at Union Furnace, in Lawrence 
county, and that the latter was by trade a tanner; that he, witness, knew the horse pre¬ 
vious to the sale to the plaintiff, and before he was owned by defendant, and was then, and at 
the time defendant purchased him, in bad hen 1th. He saw him daily employed in defend¬ 
ant’s bark mill, and was fast declining, and wnen unemployed, drooping in his appearance, 
and so continued until sold to the plaintiff. Having been present at the sale, and hearing 
the Warranty, the witness afterwards inquired of the defendant why he had done so, know¬ 
ing the horse to be unsound. He answered by insisting that the horse was in no way dis¬ 
eased, or in unsound health, but that the drooping appearance arose from his being bewitch- 
















LAWRENCE COUNTY. 


201 


ed, which he did not call unsoundness, and so soon as they could be got out of the horse, he 
would then be as well as ever. The defendant further stated, that the same witches which 
were in that horse, had been in one or two persons, and some cows, in the same settlement, 
and could only be driven out by a witch doctor, living on the head waters of the Little Scioto, 
in Pike county, or by burning the animal in which they were found; that this doctor had 
some time before been sent for to see a young woman who was in a bad way, and on ex¬ 
amination found her bewitched. He soon expelled them, and also succeeded in ascertain¬ 
ing that an old woman not far off was the witch going about in that way, and she could be 
got rid of only by killing her. At some subsequent time, when defendant was from home, 
his wife sent for witness and others, to see and find out what was the matter with her cow, 
in a lot near the house. They found it frantic, running, and pitching at every thing which 
came near. It was their opinion, after observing it considerably, that it had the canine 
madness. The defendant, however, returned before the witness and others left the lot; he 
inspected the cow with much attention, and gave it as his opinion that they were mistaken 
as to the true cause of her conduct,—she was not mad, but bewitched ; the same which 
had been in the horse, had transferred itself to the cow. By this time the animal, from 
exhaustion or other cause, had lain down. The defendant then went into the lot, and re¬ 
quested the persons present to assist in putting a rope about her horns, and then make the 
other end fast to a tree, where he could burn her. They laughed at the man’s notion, but 
finally assisted him, seeing she remained quiet—still having no belief that he really intended 
burning her. This being done, the defendant piled up logs, brush and other things around, 
and finally over the poor cow, and then set fire to them. The defendant continued to add 
fuel, until she was entirely consumed, and afterwards told the witness he had never seen 
any creature so hard to die ; that she continued to moan after most of the flesh had fallen 
from her bones, and he felt a pity for her, but die she must; that nothing but the witches in 
her kept her alive so long, and it was his belief they would be so burnt before getting out, 
that they never would come back. Night having set in before the burning was finished, 
the defendant and his family set up to ascertain if the witches could be seen about the pile 
of embers. Late at night, some one of the family called the defendant to the window—the 
house being near the place—and pointed to two witches, hopping around, over and across 
the pile of embers, and now and then seizing a brand and throwing it into the air, and in a 
short while disappeared. The next morning, on examination, the defendant saw their 
tracks through the embers in all directions. At a subsequent time, he told the same wit¬ 
ness and others, that from that time the witches had wholly disappeared from the neighbor¬ 
hood, and would never return—and to burn the animal alive, in which they were found, was 
the only way to get clear of them : he had been very fearful they would torment his family. 

The writer found, after the above trial, from a conversation with the defendant, that he 
had a settled belief in such things, and in the truth of the above statement. 

Hanging Rock, 17 miles below the county seat, on the Ohio river, 
contains 1 church, 4 stores, a forge, a rolling mill, and a foundery— 
where excellent bar iron is made—and about 150 inhabitants. It is 
the great iron emporium of the county, and nearly all the iron is 
shipped there. It is contemplated to build a railroad from this place, 
of about 15 miles in length, to the iron region, connecting it with 
the various furnaces. The village is named from a noted cliff' of 
sandstone, about 400 feet in height, called the “ Hanging Rock,” 
the upper portion of which projects over, like the cornice of a house. 

Some years since, a wealthy iron master was buried at Hanging 
Rock, in compliance with his request, above ground, in an iron coffin. 
It was raised about two feet from the ground, supported by iron pil¬ 
lars, resting on a flat stone. Over all, was placed an octagonal build¬ 
ing of wood, about 12 feet diameter and 15 high, painted white, with 
a cupola-like roof, surmounted by a ball. It was in fact a tomb, but 
of so novel a description as to attract crowds of strangers, to the no 
small annoyance of the friends of the deceased, who, in consequence, 
removed the building, and sunk the coffin into a grave near the spot. 


292 


LICKING COUNTY. 


LICKING. 


Licking was erected from Fairfield, March 1st, 1808, and named 
from its principal stream, called by the whites Licking by the In¬ 
dians, Pataskala. The surface is slightly hilly on the east, the west¬ 
ern part is level, and the soil generally yellow clay: the vallies are 
rich alluvion, inclining many of them to gravel. Coal is in the 
eastern part, and iron ore of a good quality. The soil is generally 
very fertile, and it is a wealthy agricultural county. The principal 
crops are wheat, corn, oats and grass. Wool and dairy productions 
are also important staples. The following is a list of the townships 
in 1840, with tl 
Bennington, 

Bowling Green, 1464 
Burlington, 

Eden, 

Etna, 

Fallsbury, 

Franklin, 

Granville, 

Hanover, 

The population of Licking, in 1820, was 11,861, in 1830, 20,864, 
and in 1840, 35,096 ; or 53 inhabitants to the square mile. 

This county contains a mixed population: its inhabitants origina¬ 
ted from Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, New England, Wales 
and Germany. Among the early settlers were John Channel, Isaac 
Stadden, John Van Buskirk, Benjamin Green, Samuel Parr, Samuel 
Elliott, John and Washington Evans, Geo. Archer, John Jones, and 
many Welsh. It was first settled, shortly after Wayne’s treaty of 
1795, by John Ratliff and Ellis Hughes, in some old Indian corn¬ 
fields, about five miles below Newark, on the Licking. These men 
were from western Virginia. They lived mainly by hunting, rais¬ 
ing, however, a little corn, the cultivation of which was left, in a 
great measure, to their wives. 


1244 

Harrison, 

Hartford, 

1049 

Mary Anne, 

866 

1464 

1355 

M’Keane, 

1424 

1423 

Hopewell, 

1150 

Newark, 

4138 

853 

Jersey, 

932 

Newton, 

1247 

1076 

Liberty, 

1115 

Perry, 

994 

910 

Licking, 

1215 

St. Albans, 

1515 

1131 

Lima, 

739 

Union, 

2219 

2255 

943 

Madison, 

1119 

Washington, 

1348 


Hughes had been bred in the hot-bed of Indian warfare. The Indians having, at an 
early day, murdered a young woman to whom he was attached, and subsequently his father, 
the return of peace did not mitigate his hatred of the race. One night, in April, 1800, two 
Indians stole the horses of Hughes and Ratliff from a little enclosure near their cabins. 
Missing them in the morning, they started off, well-armed, in pursuit, accompanied by a 
man named Bland. They followed their trail in a northern direction all day, and at night 
camped in the woods. At the grey of the morning, they came upon the Indians, who were 
asleep and unconscious of danger. Concealing themselves behind the trees, they waited 
until the Indians had awakened, and were commencing preparations for their journey. 
They drew up their rifles to shoot, and just at that moment one of the Indians discovered 
them, and instinctively clapping his hand on his breast, as if to ward off the fatal ball, ex¬ 
claimed in tones of affright, “ me bad Indian!—me no do so more !” The appeal was in 
vain, the smoke curled from the glistening barrels, the report rang in the morning air, and 
the poor Indians fell dead. They returned to their cabins with the horses and “ plunder” 
taken from the Indians, and swore mutual secrecy for this violation of law. 

One evening, some time after, Hughes was quietly sitting in his cabin, when he was 
startled by the entrance of two powerful and well-armed savages. Concealing his emo- 


LICKING COUNTY. 


293 


tions, he gave them a welcome and offered them seats. His wife, a muscular, squaw-like 
looking female, stepped aside and privately sent for Ratliff, whose cabin was near. Pre¬ 
sently, Ratliff, who had made a detour, entered, with his rifle, from an opposite direction, 
as if he had been out hunting. He found Hughes talking with the Indians about the mur¬ 
der. Hughes had his tomahawk and scalping-knife, as was his custom, in a belt around his 
person, but his rifle hung from the cabin wall, which he deemed it imprudent to attempt to 
obtain. There all the long night sat the parties, mutually fearing each other, and neither 
summoning sufficient courage to stir. When morning dawned, the Indians left, shaking 
hands and bidding farewell, but, in their retreat, were very cautious not to be shot in am¬ 
bush by the hardy borderers. 

Hughes died near Utica, in this county, in March, 1845, at an advanced age, in the hope 
of a happy future. His early life had been one of much adventure : he was, it is supposed, 
the last survivor of the bloody battle of Point Pleasant. He was buried with military 
honors and other demonstrations of respect. 

Newark, the county seat, is 37 miles, by the mail route, easterly 
from Columbus, at the confluence of the three principal branches of 
the Licking. It is on the line of the Ohio canal, and of the railroad 
now constructing from Sandusky City to Columbus, a branch from 
which, of about 24 miles in length, will probably diverge from this 
place to Zanesville. Newark is a beautiful and well-built town, on 
a level site, and has the most spacious and elegant public square in 
the state. It was laid out, with broad streets, in 1801, on the plan 
of Newark, N. J., by Gen. Wm. C. Schenk, Geo. W. Burnet, Esq., 
and John M. Cummings, who owned this military section, comprising 
4,000 acres. The first hewed log-houses were built in 1802, on the 
public square, by Samuel Elliott and Samuel Parr. The first tavern, 
a hewed log structure, with a stone chimney, was opened on the site 
of the Franklin house, by James Black. In 1804, there were about 
15 or 20 families, mostly young married people. Among the early 
settlers were Morris A. Newman, Adam Hatfield, Jas. Black, John 
Johnson, Patrick Cunningham, William Claypole, Abraham Miller, 
Samuel H. Smith, Annaniah Pugh, Jas. Petticord, John and Aquila 
Belt, Dr. John J. Brice, and widow Pegg. About the year 1808, 
a log building was erected on or near the site of the court-house, 
which was used as a court-house and a church, common for all de¬ 
nominations. The Presbyterians built the first regular church, about 
1817, just west of the court-house, on the public square. The first 
sermon delivered in Newark, by a Presbyterian, and probably the 
first by any denomination in the county, was preached under pecu¬ 
liar circumstances. 

In 1803, Rev. John Wright, missionary of the Western Missionary Society at Pittsburg, 
arrived on a Saturday afternoon at Newark, which then contained five or six log-cabins 
and Black’s log tavern, at which he put up. On inquiring of the landlady, he found there 
was but one Presbyterian in the place, and as he was very poor, he concluded to remain at 
the tavern rather than intrude upon his hospitality. The town was filled with people at¬ 
tending a horse-race, which, not proving satisfactory, they determined to try over the next 
day. Mr. Wright retired to rest at an early hour, but was intruded upon by the horse 
racers, who swore that he must either join and drink with them, or be ducked under a 
pump, which last operation was coolly performed upon one of the company in his presence. 
About midnight, he sought and obtained admittance in the house of the Presbyterian, where 
he rested on the floor, not without strenuous urging from the worthy couple to occupy* their 
bed. The next morning, which was Sunday, when the guests ascertained he was a clergy¬ 
man, they sent an apology for their conduct, and requested him to postpone preaching until 
afternoon, when the race was over. The apology was accepted, but he preached in the 
morning to a few persons, and in the afternoon to a large congregation. The sermon. 


294 


LICKING COUNTY. 


which was upon the sanctification of the Sabbath, was practical and pungent. When he 
concluded, a person arose and addressed the congregation, telling them that the preacher 
had told the truth; and although he was at the horse-race, it was wrong, and that they 
must take up a contribution for Mr. Wright. Over seven dollars were collected. In 1804, 
Mr. Wright settled in Lancaster, and after great difficulty, as the population was much 
addicted to vice, succeeded, in about 1807, through the aid of Mr. David Moore, in organ¬ 
izing the first Presbyterian church in Newark. 

Newark contains 2 Prebyterian, 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, 
1 Welsh Methodist, 1 German Lutheran, 1 Welsh Presbyterian and 
1 Catholic church; 3 newspaper printing offices, 2 grist mills 1 
foundery, 1 woolen factory, 6 forwarding houses, 10 groceries, 1 
book, 2 hardware and 18 dry goods stores : in 1830, it had 999 in¬ 
habitants, and in 1840, 2,705. 

Southwest of Newark, in the forks formed by a branch of Licking 
river and Raccoon creek, are numerous ancient works, which extend 
over a space of several miles in length and breadth. 

On the 18th of May, 1825, occurred one of the most violent tor¬ 
nadoes ever known in Ohio. It has been commonly designated as 
“the Burlington storm ,” because in Burlington township, in this 
county, its effects were more severely felt than in any other part of 
its track. This event is told in the language of a correspondent. 

It commenced between the hours of one and two, p. m., in the southeast part of Delaware 
county. After passing for a few miles upon the surface of the ground, in an easterly direc¬ 
tion, it appeared to rise so high from the earth that the tallest trees were not affected by it, 
and then again descended to the surface, and with greatly increased violence and force pro¬ 
ceeded through the townships of Bennington and Burlington, in Licking county, and then 
passed into Knox county, and thence to Coshocton county. Its general course was a little 
north of east. For force and violence of wind, this storm has rarely been surpassed in any 
country in the same latitude. Forests and orchards were completely uprooted and levelled, 
buildings blown down, and their parts scattered in every direction and carried by the force 
of the wind many miles distant. Cattle were taken from the ground and carried one hun¬ 
dred rods or more. The creek, which had been swollen by recent rains, had but little water 
in its bed after the storm had passed. The roads and fields recently plowed, were quite 
muddy from previous rains; but after the storm had passed by, both roads and fields were 
clean and dry. Its track through Licking county was from one-third to three-fifths of a 
mile wide, but became wider as it advanced farther to the eastward. Those who were so 
fortunate as to be witnesses of its progress, without being victims of its fury, represent the 
appearance of the fragments of trees, buildings, &c., high in the air, to resemble large num¬ 
bers of birds, such as buzzards, or ravens. The ground, also, seemed to tremble, as it is 
asserted by many credible persons, who were, at the time, a mile from the tornado itself. 
The roar of the wind, the trembling of the ground, and the crash of the falling timber and 
buildings, is represented by all who were witnesses as being peculiarly dreadful. 

Colonel Wright and others, who witnessed its progress, think it advanced at the rate of 
a mile per minute, and did not last more than a minute and a half or two minutes. The 
cloud was exceedingly black, and sometimes bore hard upon the ground, and at others, 
seemed to rise a little above the surface. One peculiarity was, that the fallen timber lay 
in every direction, so that the course of the storm could not be determined from the position 
of the fallen trees. 

Many incidents are related by the inhabitants, calculated to illustrate the power, as well 
as the terror, of the storm, among which are the following. A chain from three to four feet 
long, and of the size of a common plow-chain, was taken from the ground near the house 
of John M’Clintock, and carried about half a mile, and lodged in the top of a sugar-tree 
stub, about 25 feet from the ground. An ox, belonging to Col. Wait Wright, was carried 
about 80 rods and left unhurt, although surrounded by the fallen timber, so that it required 
several hours chopping to release him. A cow, also, was taken from the same field and car¬ 
ried about 40 rods, and lodged in the top of a tree, which was blown down, and when found 
was dead, and about 8 feet from the ground. Whether the cow was blown against the tree- 
top before it was blown down, or was lodged in it after it fell, cannot be determined. A 


LICKING COUNTY. 


295 



heavy ox cart was taken from the yard of Col. Wright, and carried about 40 rods, and 
struck the ground with such force as to break the axle and entirely to demolish one wheel. 
A son of Col. Wright, upwards of fourteen years of age, was standing in the house holding 
the door. The house, which was built of logs, was tom in pieces, and the lad was thrown 
with such violence across the room as to kill him instantly. A coat, which was hanging in 
the same room, was found, in the following November, in Coshocton county, more than forty 
miles distant, and was afterwards brought to Burlington, and was identified by Col. Wright’s 
family. Other articles, such as shingles, pieces of timber and of furniture, were carried 
twenty, and even thirty miles. Miss Sarah Robb, about twelve years of age, was taken 
from her father’s house and carried some distance, she could not tell how far; but when 
consciousness returned, found herself about forty rods from the house, and walking towards 
it. She was much bruised, but not essentially injured. The family of a Mr. Yance, on 
seeing the storm approach, fled from the house to the orchard adjoining. The upper part 
of the house was blown off and through the orchard ; the lower part of the house remained. 
Two sons of Mr. Vance were killed—one immediately, and the other died in a day or two 
from his wounds. These, and the son of Col. Wright, above mentioned, were all the lives 
known to be lost by the storm. A house, built of large logs, in which was a family, and 
which a number of workmen had entered for shelter from the storm, was raised up on one 
side and rolled off the place on which it stood, without injuring any one. A yoke of oxen, 
belonging to Wm. H. Cooley, were standing in the yoke in the field, and after the storm, 
were found completely enclosed and covered with fallen timber, so that they were not re¬ 
leased till the next day, but were not essentially injured. A black walnut tree, two and half 
feet in diameter, which had lain on the ground for many years, and had become embedded 
in the earth to nearly one half its size, was taken from its bed and carried across the creek, 
and left as many as 30 rods from its former location. A crockery crate, in which several 
fowls were confined, was carried by the wind several miles, and, with its contents, set down 
without injury. 

Presbyterian Female Seminary. Episcopal Female Seminary. 


Granville ( Baptist) College. Male Academy. 

Literary Institutions at Granville. 

The village of Granville is six miles west of Newark, and is con¬ 
nected with the Ohio canal by a side cut of six miles in length. It 
is a neat, well-built town, noted for the morality and intelligence of 
its inhabitants and its flourishing and well-conducted literary insti¬ 
tutions. It contains 6 churches, 6 stores, 3 academies—(beside a large 





























296 


LICKING COUNTY. 


brick building, which accommodates in each of its stories a distinct 
school,—and had in 1840, 727 inhabitants. The Granville college 
belongs to the Baptists, and was chartered in 1832. It is on a com¬ 
manding site, one mile southwest of the village: its faculty consist 
of a president, two professors and two tutors. The four institutions 
at Granville, have, unitedly, from 15 to 20 instructors, and enjoy a 
generous patronage from all parts of the state. When all the schools 
and institutions are in operation, there are, within a mile, usually 
from 400 to 600 scholars. 

The annexed historical sketch of Granville township, is from the 
published sketches of the Rev. Jacob Little. 

In 1804, a company was formed at Granville, Mass., with the intention of making a 
settlement in Ohio. This, called “ the Scioto company ,” was the third of that name which 
effected settlements in Ohio. (See pp. 169, 178.) The project met with great favor, and 
much enthusiasm was elicited ; in illustration of which, a song was composed and sung to 
the tune of “ Pleasant Ohio,” by the young people in the house and at labor in the field. 
We annex two stanzas, which are more curious than poetical. 


When rambling o’er these mountains 
And rocks, where ivies grow 
Thick as the hairs upon your head, 

’Mongst which you cannot go; 

Great storms of snow, cold winds that blow, 
We scarce can undergo ; 

Says I, my boys, we’ll leave this place 
For th'e pleasant Ohio. 


Our precious friends that stay behind, 
We’re sorry now to leave ; 

But if they’ll stay and break their shins. 
For them we’ll never grieve ; 

Adieu, my friends! come on my dears. 
This journey we’ll forego, 

And settle Licking creek, 

In yonder Ohio. 


The Scioto company consisted of 114 proprietors, who made a purchase of 28,000 acres. 
In the autumn of 1805, 234 persons, mostly from East Granville, Mass., came on to the 
purchase. Although they had been forty-two days on the road, their first business, on their 
arrival, having organized a church before they left the east, was to hear a sermon. The 
first tree cut was that by which public worship was held, which stood just front of the site 
of the Presbyterian church. On the first Sabbath, November 16th, although only about a 
dozen trees had been cut, they held divine worship, both forenoon and afternoon, at that 
spot. The novelty of worshiping in the woods, the forest extending hundreds of miles 
every way, the hardships of the journey, the winter setting in, the fresh thoughts of home, 
with all the friends and privileges left behind, and the impression that such must be the 
accommodations of a new country, all rushed on their nerves and made this a day of varied 
interest. When they began to sing, the echo of their voices among the trees was so dif¬ 
ferent from what it was in the beautiful meeting house they had left, that they could no 
longer restrain their tears. They wept when they remembered Zion. The voices of part 
of the choir were for a season suppressed with emotion. 

An incident occurred, which some Mrs. Sigourney should put into a poetical dress. 
Deacon Theophilus Reese, a Welsh Baptist, had two or three years before built a cabin a 
mile and a half, north, and lived all this time without public worship. He had lost his 
cows, and hearing a lowing of the oxen belonging to the company, set out towards them. 
As he ascended the hills overlooking the town-plot, he heard the singing of the choir. The 
reverberation of the sound from hill-tops and trees, threw the good man into a serious 
dilemma. The music at first seemed to be behind, then in the tops of the trees or the 
clouds. He stopped, till by accurate listening, he caught the direction of the sound, and 
went on, till passing the brow of the hill, when he saw the audience sitting on the level 
below. He went home and told his wife that “ the promise of God is a bond a Welsh 
phrase, signifying that we have security, equal to a bond that religion will prevail every 
where. He said “ these must be good people. I am not afraid to go among them.” 
Though he could not understand English, he constantly attended the -reading meeting. 
Hearing the music on that occasion, made such an impression on his mind, that when he 
became old and met the first settlers, he would always tell over this story. The first cabin 
built, was that in which they worshiped succeeding Sabbaths, and before the close of 
winter they had a school and school house. That church, in forty years, has been favored 
with ten revivals, and received about one thousand persons. 

The first Baptist sermon was preached in the log church by Elder Jones, in 1806. The 



LICKING COUNTY, 


297 


Welsh Baptist church was organized in the cabin of David Thomas, September 4, 1808. 
“ The Baptist church in Christ and St. Albans,” was organized June 6th, 1819. On the 
21st of April, 1827, the Granville members were organized into “ the Granville church,” 
and the comer-stone of their church was laid September 21, 1829. In the fall, the first 
Methodist sermon was preached under a black walnut; the first class organized in 1810, 
and first church erected in 1824. An Episcopal church was organized May 9th, 1827* 
and a church consecrated in 1838. More recently, the Welsh Congregationalists and Cal- 
vinistic Methodists have built houses of worship, making seven congregations, of whom 
three worship in the Welsh language. There are, in the township, 405 families’, of which 
214 sustain family worship ; 1431 persons over 14 years of age, of whom nearly 800 belong 
to these several churches. The town has 150 families, of which 80 have family worship. 
Twenty years ago, the township furnished 40 school teachers, and in 1846, 70, of whom 
62 prayed in school. In 1846, the township took 621 periodical papers, beside three small 
monthlies. The first temperance society west of the mountains, was organized July 15th, 
1828, and in 1831, the Congregational church adopted a by-law, to accept no member who’ 
trafficked in or used ardent spirits. 

^ There are but six men now living who came on with families the first fall, viz: Hugh 
Kelley, Roswell Graves, Elias Gillman, William Gavit, Levi and Hiram Rose. Other 
males, who arrived in 1805, then mostly children, and still surviving, are Elkannah Linnel, 
Spencer, Thomas and Timothy Spelman, Dennis Kelley, William Jones, Franklin and 
Ezekiel Gavit, Cotton, Alexander and William Thrall, Augustine Munson, Amos Car¬ 
penter, Timothy, Samuel, Heland, Lemuel, C. C. and Hiram P. Rose, Justin and Truman 
Hillyer, Silvanus, Gideon, Isaac and Archibald Cornel, Simeon and Alfred Avery, Fred¬ 
erick More, Worthy Pratt, Ezekiel, Samuel and Truman Wells, Albert, Mitchell, Joshua, 
Knowles and Benjamin Linnel, Lester and Hiram Case, Harry and Lewis Clemens, Lev- 
erett, Harry and Charles Butler, and Titus Knox: which, added to the others, make forty- 
one persons. 

When Granville was first settled, it was supposed that Worthington would be the capital 
of Ohio, between which and Zanesville, this would make a great half-way town. At this 
time, snakes, wolves and Indians abounded in this region. On the pleasant spring morn¬ 
ings, large numbers of snakes were found running on the flat stones. Upon prying up the 
stones, there was found a singular fact respecting the social nature of serpents. Dens 
were found containing very discordant materials, twenty or thirty rattle-snakes, black- 
snakes and copper-heads, all coiled up together. Their liberal terms of admission only 
seemed to require evidence of snakeship. Besides various turnouts to kill them, the inhab¬ 
itants had one general hunt. Elias Gillman and Justin Hillyer were tjhe captains, who 
chose sides, and the party beaten were to pay three gallons of whiskey. Tradition is 
divided as to the number killed that day. Some say 300. They killed that year between 
700 and 800 rattle-snakes and copper-heads, keeping no account of the black and other 
harmless serpents. The young men would seize them by the neck and thrash them against 
the trees, before they had time to bite or curl round their arms. The copper-head, though 
smaller, was much more feared. The rattle-snake was larger, sooner seen, and a true 
southerner, always living up to the laws of honor. He would not bite without provoca¬ 
tion, and by his rattles gave the challenge in an honorable way. Instead of this well-bred 
warfare, the copper-head is a wrathy little felon, whose ire is always up, and he will make 
at the hand or the foot in the leaves or grass, before he is seen, and his bite is as poisonous 
as that of his brother of the larger fang. The young men tested his temper, and found that 
in his wrath he would bite a red hot coal. Very few were bitten by the rattle-snake, and 
all speak well of his good disposition and gentlemanly manners; but so many were bitten 
in consequence of the fractious temper of the copper-head, that he has left no one behind 
him to sound a note in his praise. » 

The limb bitten became immediately swollen, turned the color of the snake, and the 
patient was soon unable to walk. In some cases the poison broke out annually, and in 
others, the limb for years was exposed to frequent swellings. After all that was suffered 
from poisonous reptiles, it was proved to a demonstration, that no animal is so poisonous 
as man. Carrying more poison in his mouth than any other creature, he can poison a 
venomous serpent to death, quicker than the serpent can him. Martin Root and two other 
young men, chopping together, saw a rattle-snake, set a fork over his neck, and put in his 
mouth a new quid from one of their mouihs. They raised the fork, and the poor creature 
did not crawl more than his length before he convulsed, swelled up and died, poisoned to 
death by virus from the mouth of one of the lords of creation. Deacon Hayes and Worthy 
Pratt tried the same experiment upon copper-heads, with the same results. Many others 

38 


298 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


killed venomous reptiles in the same way, and one man pretended that by the moderate 
use, he had taught a copper-head to take tobacco without injury. 

About three miles northwest of the ancient works in the vicinity 
of Newark, and near the road between that place and Granville, 
are numerous mounds and other ancient works. The most curious 
object is the figure, shaped like and called “ the Alligator,” on the top 
of a high hill. Its dimensions are as follows, in feet: length of the 
head and neck, 32; do. of the body, 73; do. tail, 105; width from 
the ends of the fore feet over the shoulders, 100 ; do. hind feet over 
the hips, 92 ; do. between the legs across the body, 32 ; do. tail close 
to the body, 18; height at the highest point, 7; whole length, 210 ; 
do. head, neck and body, 105. It appears to be mainly composed 
of clay, and is overgrown with grass. Visitors have made a path 
from the nose along the back to where the tail begins to curl, at 
which point stands a large black walnut. 

The noted “ Narrows of Licking ,” are in the eastern part of the 
county. “ This is a very picturesque spot; cliffs of sandstone rock, 
50 feet in height, line the sides of the canal, especially on the left 
bank of the stream. In some places, they hang over in a semi-cir¬ 
cular form, the upper portion projecting and defending the lower 
from the rains and weather. In one of these spots, the aborigines 
chose to display their ingenuity at pictorial writing, by figuring on 
the smooth face of the cliff, at an elevation of eight or ten feet above 
the water, the outlines of wild animals, and among the rest, the figure 
of a huge black human hand. From this circumstance, the spot is 
known to all the old hunters and inhabitants of this vicinity, by the 
name of ‘ the black hand narrows.’ It is the scene of many an 
ancient legend and wild hunting story.” 

The following are names of villages in this county, with their 
population in 1840: some of them have much increased since, and 
are smart business places, containing several stores, churches, mills, 
&c. The six first named are on the national road. Brownsville 
313, Hebron 473, Jacksontown 215, Kirkersville 179, Luray 109, 
Gratiot 147, Alexandria 200, Chatham 173, Etna 219, Fredonia 107, 
Hartford 106, Havana 54, Homer 201, Linnville 101, Lockport 125, 
and Utica 355. Johnstown, omitted in the census of 1840, is a vil¬ 
lage of note, in the northwest part of the county. 


LOGAN. 

Logan derived its name from Gen. Benj. Logan: it was formed 
March 1st, 1817, and the courts ordered “to be holden at the house 
of Edwin Matthews, or some other convenient place in the town of 
Bellville, until a permanent seat of justice should be established.” 
The soil, which is various, is generally good: the surface broken 
around the head waters of Mad river, elsewhere rolling or level; in 
the western part are eight small lakes, covering each from two to 



LOGAN COUNTY. 


299 


seventy acres of land. The principal productions are wheat, corn, 
rye, oats and clover, flax and timothy seed. The following is a list 
of the townships in 1840, with their population: 

Bloomfield, 

Rakes Cree 
Harrison, 

Jefferson, 

Lake, 


565 

Liberty, 807 

Rush Creek, 

1077 

222 

M’Arthur, 1673 

Stokes, 

299 

658 

Miami, 1423 

Union, 

832 

1527 

Monroe, 1203 

W ashington, 

517 

1175 

Perry, 1014 

Zane, 

1021 


The population of Logan in 1820, was 3181 ; in 1830, 6432, and 
in 1840, 14,013, or 33 inhabitants to the square mile. 

The territory comprised within the limits of this county, was a 
favorite abode of the Shawanoe Indians, who had several villages on 
Mad river, called the Mack-a-chack towns, the names and position 
of three of which are given to us by an old settler. The first, called 
Mack-a-chack, stood near West Liberty, on the farm of Judge Benj. 
Piatt; the second, Pigeon Town, was about three miles northwest, 
on the farm of George F. Dunn, and the third, Wappatomica, was 
just below Zanesfield. 

The Mack-a-chack towns were destroyed in 1786, by a body of 
Kentuckians, under Gen. Benj. Logan. The narrative of this expe¬ 
dition is from the pen of Gen. William Lytle, (see page 98,) who 
was an actor in the scenes he describes. 


It was in the autumn of this year, that Gen. Clarke raised the forces of the Wabash ex¬ 
pedition. They constituted a numerous corps. Col. Logan was detached from the army at 
the falls of the Ohio, to raise a considerable force, with which to proceed against the In¬ 
dian villages on the head waters of Mad river and the Great Miami. I was then aged 
16, and too young to come within the legal requisition ; but I offered myself as a volunteer. 
Col. Logan went on to his destination, and would have surprised the Indian towns against 
which he had marched, had not one of his men deserted to the enemy, not long before they 
reached the town, who gave notice of their approach. As it was, he burned eight large 
towns, and destroyed many fields of corn. He took 70 or 80 prisoners, and killed 20 war¬ 
riors, and among them the head chief of the nation. This last act caused deep regret, hu¬ 
miliation and shame to the commander in chief and his troops. 

We came in view of the two first towns, one of which stood on the west bank of Mad 
river, and the other on the northeast of it. They were separated by a prairie, half a mile 
in extent. The town on the northeast was situated on a high, commanding point of land, 
that projected a small distance into the prairie, at the foot of which eminence broke out sev¬ 
eral fine springs. This was the residence of the famous chief of the nation. His flag was 
flying at the time, from the top of a pole 60 feet high. We had advanced in three lines, 
the commander with some of the horsemen marching at the head of the center line, and the 
footmen in their rear. Col. Robert Patterson commanded the left, and I think Col. Thomas 
Kennedy the right. When w r e came in sight of the towns, the spies of the front guard 
made a halt, and sent a man back to ijfform the commander of the situation of the two towns. 
He ordered Col. Patterson to attack the towns on the left bank of Mad river. Col. Kennedy 
was also charged to incline a little to the right of the town on the east side of the prairie. 
He determined himself to charge, with the center division, immediately on the upper town. 
I heard the commander give his orders, and caution the colonels against allowing their men 
to kill any among the enemy, that they might suppose to be prisoners. He then ordered 
them to advance, and as soon as they should discover the enemy, to charge upon them. I 
had my doubts touching the propriety of some of the arrangements. I was willing, how¬ 
ever, to view the affair with the diffidence of youth and inexperience. At any rate, I was 
determined to be at hand, to see all that was going on, and to be as near the head of the line 
as my colonel would permit. I was extremely solicitous to try myself in battle. The 
commander of the center line waved his sword over his head, as a signal for the troops to 
advance. Col. Daniel Boone, and Major, since Gen. Kenton, commanded the advance, and 
Col. Trotter the rear. As we approached within half a mile of the town on the left, and 


300 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


about three fourths from that on the right, we saw the savages retreating in all directions, 
making for the thickets, swamps, and high prairie grass, to secure them from their enemy. 
I was animated with the energy with which the commander conducted the head of his 
line. He waved his sword, and in a voice of thunder exclaimed, “ Charge from right 
to left!” 

The horses appeared as impatient for the onset as their riders. As we came up with the 
flying savages, I was disappointed, discovering that we should have little to do. I heard 
but one savage, with the exception of the chief, cry for quarter. They fought with despera¬ 
tion, as long as they could raise knife, gun or tomahawk, after they found they could not 
screen themselves. We dispatched all the warriors that we overtook, and sent the women 
and children prisoners to the rear. We pushed ahead, still hoping to overtake a larger 
body, where we might have something like a general engagement. I was mounted on a 
very fleet grey horse. Fifty of my companions followed me. I had not advanced more 
than a mile, before I discovered some of the enemy, running along the edge of a thicket of 
hazle and plum bushes. I made signs to the men in my rear, to come on. At the same 
time, pointing to the flying enemy, I obliqued across the plain, so as to get in advance of 
them. When I arrived within 50 yards of them, I dismounted and raised my gun. I dis¬ 
covered, at this moment, some men of the right wing coining up on the left. The warrior I 
was about to shoot, held up his hand in token of surrender, and I heard him order the other 
Indians to stop. By this time, the men behind had arrived, and were in the act of firing 
upon the Indians. I called to them not to fire, for the enemy had surrendered. The warrior 
that had surrendered to me, came walking towards me, calling his women and children to 
follow him. I advanced to meet him, with my right hand extended ; but before I could 
reach him, the men of the right wing of our force had surrounded him. I rushed in among 
their horses. While he was giving me his hand, several of our men wished to tomahawk 
him. ^informed them that they would have to tomahawk me first. We led him back to 
the place-Mifere his flag had been. We had taken thirteen prisoners. Among them were 
the chief three wives—one of them a young and handsome woman, another of them the 
famous gr> Jier squaw, upwards of six feet high—and two or three fine young lads. The rest 
were children. One of these lads was a remarkably interesting youth, about my own age and 
size. He clung closely to me, and appeared keenly to notice every thing that was going on. 

When we arrived at the town, a crowd of our men pressed around to see the chief. I 
stepped aside to fasten my horse, and my prisoner lad clung close to my side. A young 
man by the name of Curner had been to one of the springs to drink. He discovered the 
young savage by my side, and came running towards me. The young Indian supposed he 
was advancing to kill him. As I turned around, in the twinkling of an eye, he let fly an 
arrow at Curner, for he w'as armed with a bow. 1 had just time to catch his arm, as he 
discharged the arrow. It passed through Curner’s dress, and grazed his side. The jerk I 
gave his arm undoubtedly prevented his killing Curner on the spot. I took away his arrows, 
and sternly reprimanded him. I then led him back to the crowd which surrounded the 
prisoners. At the same moment, Col. M’Gary, the same man who had caused the disaster 
at the Blue Licks, some years before, coming up, Gen. Logan’s eye caught that of M’Gary. 
“ Col. M’Gary,” said he, “ you must not molest these prisoners.” “ I will see to that,” said 
M’Gary in reply. I forced my way through the crowd to the chief, with my young charge 
by the hand. M’Gary ordered the crowd to open and let him in. He came up to the 
chief, and the first salutation was in the question, “ Were you at the defeat of the Blue 
Licks ?” The Indian, not knowing the meaning of the words, or not understanding the 
purport of the question, answered, “ Yes.” M’Gary instantly seized an axe from the hands 
of the grenadier squaw, and raised it to make a blow at the chief. I threw up my arm, to 
ward off the blow. The handle of the axe struck me across the left wrist, and came near 
breaking it. The axe sank in the head of the chief to the eyes, and he fell dead at my feet. 
Provoked beyond measure at this wanton barbarity, I drew my knife, for the purpose of 
avenging his cruelty by dispatching him. My arm was arrested by one of our men, which 
prevented me inflicting the thrust. M’Gary escaped from the crowd. 

A detachment was then ordered off to two other towns, distant six or eight miles. The 
men and prisoners were ordered to march down to the lower town and encamp. As we 
marched out of the upper town, we fired it, collecting a large pile of corn for our horses, and 
beans, pumpkins, &c., for our own use. I told Capt. Stucker, who messed with me, that I 
had seen several hogs running about the town, which appeared to be in good order, and I 
thought that a piece of fresh pork would relish well with our stock of vegetables. He readily 
assenting to it, we went in pursuit of them ; but as orders had been given not to shoot un¬ 
less at an enemy, after finding the hogs we had to run them down on foot, until we got 
near enough to tomahawk them. Being engaged at this for some time before we killed 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


301 


one, while Capt. S. was in the act of striking the hog, I cast my eye along the edge of the 
woods that skirted the prairie, and saw an Indian coming along with a deer on his back. 
The fellow happened to raise his head at that moment, and looking across the prairie to the 
upper town, saw it all in flames. At the same moment, I spake to Stucker in a low voice, 
that here was an Indian coming. In the act of turning my head round to speak to Stucker] 
I discovered Hugh Ross, brother-in-law to Col. Kennedy, at the distance of about 60 or 70 
yards, approaching us. I made a motion with my hand to Ross to squat down; then 
taking a tree between me and the Indian, I slipped somewhat nearer, to get a fairer shot 
when at the instant I raised my gun past the tree, the Indian being about 100 yards dis¬ 
tant, Ross’s ball whistled by me, so close that I felt the wind of it, and struck the Indian on 
the calf of one of his legs. The Indian that moment dropped his deer, and sprang into the 
high grass of the prairie. All this occurred so quickly, that I had not time to draw a sight 
on him, before he was hid by the grass. I was provoked at Ross for shooting when I was 
near enough to have killed him, and now the consequence would be, that probably some of 
our men would lose their lives, as a wounded Indian only would give up with his life. Capt. 
Irwin rode up that moment, with his troop of horse, and asked me where the Indian was. 
I pointed as nearly as I could to the spot where I last saw him in the grass, cautioning the 
captain, if he missed him the first charge, to pass on out of his reach before he wheeled to 
re-charge, or the Indian would kill some of his men in the act of wheeling. Whether the 
paptain heard me, I cannot say; at any rate, the warning was not attended to, for after 
passing the Indian a few steps. Captain Irwin ordered his men to wheel and re-charge across 
the woods, and in the act of executing the movement, the Indian raised up and shot the 
captain dead on the spot—still keeping below the level of the grass, to deprive us of any op¬ 
portunity of putting a bullet through him. The troop charged again ; but the Indian was 
so active, that he had darted into the grass, some rods from where he had fired at Irwin, 
and they again missed him. By this time several footmen had got up. Capt. Seeker qpd 
myself had each of us taken a tree that stood out in the edge of the prairi ong the 
grass, when a Mr. Stafford came up, and put his head first past one side and t v ^ he other 
of the tree I was behind. I told him not to expose himself that way, or he w ’l et shot 
in a moment. I had hardly expressed the last word, when the Indian again i up out 
of the grass. His gun, Stucker’s, and my own, with four or five behind up^specia* eked at 
the same instant. Stafford fell at my side, while we rushed on the wouT.urnfubmian with 
our tomahawks. Before we had got him dispatched, he had made ready fiv. powder in his 
gun, and a ball in his mouth, preparing for a third fire, with bullet hole r . his breast that 
might all have been covered with a man’s open hand. We found wit! if.m Capt. Beasley’s 
rifle—the captain having been killed at the Lower Blue Licks, a few jlys before the army 
passed through that place on their way to the towns. 

Next morning, Gen. Logan ordered another detachment to attack a town that lay seven 
or eight miles to the north or northwest of where we then were. This town was also burnt, 
together with a large blockhouse that the English had built there, of a huge size and thick¬ 
ness ; and the detachment returned that evening to the main body. Mr. Isaac Zane was 
at that time living at this last village, he being married to a squaw, and having at the place 
his wife and several children at the time. 

The name of the Indian chief killed by M’Gary, was Moluntha, the great sachem of the 
Shawnees. The grenadier squaw was the sister to Cornstalk, who fell [basely murdered] 
at Point Pleasant. 

Jonathan Alder (see Madison county) was at this time living with 
the Indians. 

From his narrative, it appears that the news of the approach of the 
Kentuckians was communicated to the Indians by a Frenchman, 
a deserter from the former. Nevertheless, as the whites arrived 
sooner than they expected, the surprise was complete. Most of the 
Indians were at the time absent hunting, and the towns became an 
easy conquest to the whites. Early one morning, an Indian runner 
came into the village in which Alder lived, and gave the information 
that Mack-a-chack had been destroyed, and that the whites were ap¬ 
proaching. Alder, with the people of the village, who were princi¬ 
pally squaws and children, retreated for two days, until they arrived 
somewhere near the head waters of the Scioto, where they suffered 


302 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


much for want of food. There was not a man among them capable 
of hunting, and they were compelled to subsist on paw-paws, muscles 
and craw-fish. In about eight days, they returned to Zane’s town, 
tarried a short time, and from thence removed to Hog creek, where 
they wintered: their principal living, at that place, was “raccoons, and 
that with little or no salt, without a single bite of bread, hommony, or 
sweet corn.” In the spring they moved back to the site of their vil¬ 
lage, where nothing remained but the ashes of the dwellings and their 
corn burnt to charcoal. They remained during the sugar season, 
and then removed to Blanchard’s fork, where, being obliged to clear 
the land, they were enabled to raise but a scanty crop of corn. 
While this was growing, they fared hard, and managed to eke out a 
bare subsistence by eating a “ kind of wild potato” and poor rac¬ 
coons, that had been suckled down so poor that dogs would hardly 
eat them: “ for fear of losing a little, they threw them on the fire, 
singed the hair off, and ate skin and all.” 

The Indian lad to whom General Lytle alludes, was taken, with 
others of the prisoners, into Kentucky. The commander of the ex¬ 
pedition was so much pleased with him, that he made him a member 
of his own family, in which he resided some years, and was at length 
permitted to return. He was ever afterwards known by the name 
of ~, to which the prefix of captain was eventually attached. 
His IrMreisP name was Spemica Lawba, i. e. “ the High Horn.” He 
subseq clunky rose to the rank of a civil chief, on account of his many 
estimabre a F ll ellectual and moral qualities. His personal appearance 
was comma/[ling, being six feet in height, and weighing near two 
hundred pounds. He from that time continued the unwavering 
friend of the Americans, and fought on their side with great con¬ 
stancy. He lost his life in the fall of 1812 , under melancholy cir¬ 
cumstances, which evinced that he was a man of the keenest sense 
of honor. The facts follow, from Drake’s Tecumseh. 

In November of 1812, General Harrison directed Logan to take a small party of his 
tribe, and reconnoitre the country in the direction of the rapids of the Maumee. When 
near this point, they were met by a body of the enemy, superior to their own in number, 
and compelled to retreat. Logan, captain Johnny [see p. 165] and Bright-horn, who com¬ 
posed the party, effected their escape to the left wing of the army, then under the command 
of Gen. Winchester, who was duly informed of the circumstances of their adventure. An 
officer of the Kentucky troops, General P., the second in command, without the slightest 
ground for such a charge, accused Logan of infidelity to our cause, and of giving intelligence 
to the enemy. Indignant at this foul accusation, the noble chief at once resolved to meet 
it in a manner that would leave no doubt as to his faithfulness to the United States. He 
called on his friend Oliver, [now Major Wm. Oliver, of Cincinnati,] and having told him of 
the imputation that had been cast upon his reputation, said that he would start from the 
camp next morning, and either leave his body bleaching in the woods, or return with such 
trophies from the enemy, as would relieve his character from the suspicion that had been 
wantonly cast upon it by an American officer. 

Accordingly, on the morning of the 22d, he started down the Maumee, attended by his 
two faithful companions, captain Johnny and Bright-horn. About noon, having stopped for 
the purpose of taking rest, they were suddenly surprised by a party of seven of the enemy, 
among whom were young Elliott, a half-breed, holding a commission in the British ser¬ 
vice, and the celebrated Potawatamie chief, Winnemac. Logan made no resistance, but, 
with great presence of mind, extending his hand to Winnemac, who was an old acquaintance, 
proceeded to inform him, that he and his two companions, tired of the American service, were 
just leaving Gen. Winchester’s army, for the purpose of joining the British. Winnemac, 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


303 


being familiar with Indian strategy, was not satisfied with this declaration, but proceeded 
to disarm Logan and his comrades, and placing his party around them, so as prevent their 
escape, started for the British camp at the foot of the rapids. In the course of the after¬ 
noon, Logan’s address was such as to inspire confidence in his sincerity, and induce Win- 
nemac to restore to him and his companions their arms. Logan now formed the plan of 
attacking his captors on the first favorable opportunity; and while marching along, suc¬ 
ceeded in communicating the substance of it to captain Johnny and Bright-horn. Their 
guns being already loaded, they had little further preparation to make than to put bullets into 
their mouths, to facilitate the re-loading of their arms. In carrying on this process, captain 
Johnny, as he afterwards related, fearing that the man marching by his side had observed 
the operation, adroitly did away the impression by remarking, “ me chaw heap tobac.” 

The evening being now at hand, the British Indians determined to encamp on the bank 
of Turkeyfoot creek, about twenty miles from Fort Winchester. Confiding in the idea that 
Logan had really deserted the American service, a part of his captors rambled around the 
place of their encampment in search of blackhaws. They were no sooner out of sight than 
Logan gave the signal of attack upon those who remained behind ; they fired, and two of 
the enemy fell dead—the third, being only wounded, required a second shot to dispatch 
him ; and in the mean time, the remainder of the party, who were near by, returned the fire, 
and all of them “ treed.” There being four of the enemy, and only three of Logan’s party, 
the latter could not watch all the movements of their antagonists. Thus circumstanced, 
and during an active fight, the fourth man of the enemy passed round until Logan was un¬ 
covered by his tree, and shot him through the body. By this time, Logan’s party had 
wounded two of the surviving four, which caused them to fall back. Taking advantage of 
this state of things, captain Johnny mounted Logan, now suffering the pain of a mortal 
wound, and Bright-horn, also wounded, on two of the enemy’s horses, and started them for 
Winchester’s camp, which they reached about midnight. Captain Johnny, having already 
secured the scalp of Winnemac, followed immediately on foot, and gained the same point 
early on the following morning. It was subsequently ascertained that the two Indians of 
the British party, who were last wounded, died of their wounds, making in all five out of 
the seven who were slain by Logan and his companions. 

When the news of this gallant affair had spread through the camp, and, especially, after 
it was known that Logan was mortally wounded, it created a deep and mournful sensation. 
No one, it is believed, more deeply regretted the fatal catastrophe than the author of the 
charge upon Logan’s integrity, which had led to this unhappy result. 

Logan’s popularity was very great; indeed, he was almost universally esteemed in the 
army for his fidelity to our cause, his unquestioned bravery, and the nobleness of his nature. 
He lived two or three days after reaching the camp, but in extreme bodily agony ; he was 
buried by the officers of the army at Fort Winchester, with the honors of war. Previous to 
his death, he related the particulars of this fatal enterprize to his friend Oliver, declaring to 
him that he prized his honor more than life; and having now vindicated his reputation from 
the imputation cast upon it, he died satisfied. In the course of this interview, and while 
writhing with pain, he was observed to smile ; upon being questioned as to the cause, he 
replied, that when he recalled to his mind the manner in which captain Johnny took off the 
scalp of Winnemac, while at the same time dexterously watching the movements of the 
enemy, he could not refrain from laughing—an incident in savage life, which shows the 
“ ruling passion strong in death.” It would, perhaps, be difficult, in the history of savage 
warfare, to point out an enterprize, the execution of which reflects higher credit upon the 
address and daring conduct of its authors, than this does upon Logan and his two com¬ 
panions. Indeed, a spirit even less indomitable, a sense of honor less acute, and a patriotic 
devotion to a good cause less active, than were manifested by this gallant chieftain of the 
woods, might, under other circumstances, have well conferred immortality upon his name. 

Col. John Johnston, in speaking of Logan, in a communication to 
us, says: 

Logan left a dying request to myself, that his two sons should be sent to Kentucky, and 
there educated and brought up under the care of Major Hardin. As soon as peace and tran¬ 
quility was restored among the Indians, I made application to the chiefs to fulfill the wish 
of their dead friend to deliver up the boys, that I might have them conveyed to Frankford, 
the residence of Major Hardin. The chiefs were embarrassed, and manifested an unwil¬ 
lingness to comply, and in this they were warmly supported by the mother of the children. 
On no account would they consent to send them so far away as Kentucky, but agreed that 
I should take and have them schooled at Piqua ; it being the best that I could do, in com¬ 
pliance with the dying words of Logan, they were brought in. I had them put to school. 


304 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


and boarded in a religious, respectable family. The mother of the boys, who was a bad 
woman, thwarted all my plans for their improvement, frequently taking them off for weeks, 
giving them bad advice, and even, on one or two occasions, brought whiskey to the school- 
house and made them drunk. In this way she continued to annoy me, and finally took 
them altogether to raise with herself among the Shawanoese, at Wapaghkonetta. I made 
several other attempts, during my connection with the Indians, to educate and train up to 
civilized life many of their youth, without any encouraging results—all of them proved 
failures. The children of Logan, with their mother, emigrated to the west twenty years 
ago, and have there became some of the wildest of their race. 

Logan county "continued to be a favorite place of residence with 
the Indians for years after the destruction of these towns. Major 
Galloway, who was here about the year 1800, gives the following, 
from memory, respecting the localities and names of their towns at 
that time. Zane’s town, now Zanesfield, was a Wyandot village ; 
Wapatomica, three miles below, on Mad river, was then deserted; 
M’Kee’s town, on M’Kee’s creek, about 4 miles south of Bellefontaine, 
so named from the infamous M’Kee, and was at that time a trading 
station; Read’s town, in the vicinity of Bellefontaine, which then had 
a few cabins ; Lewis town, on the Great Miami, and Soloman’s town, 
at which then lived the Wyandot chief, Tarhe , “ the Crane.” From 
an old settler we learn, also, that on the site of Bellefontaine, was 
Blue Jacket’s town, and 3 miles north, the town of Buckongehelas. 
Blue Jacket, or Weyapiersensaw , and Buckongehelas were noted 
chiefs, and were at the treaty of Greenville: the first was a Shaw¬ 
nee, and the last a Delaware. At Wayne’s victory, Blue Jacket had 
the chief control, and, in opposition to Little Turtle, advocated giv¬ 
ing the whites battle with so much force as to overpower the better 
councils of the other. 

By the treaty of Sept. 29th, 1817, at the foot of the Maumee rapids, 
the Seneca and Shawnees had a reservation around Lewistown, in 
this county ; by a treaty, ratified April 6th, 1832, the Indians vacated 
their lands and removed to the far west. On this last occasion, Jas. 
B. Gardiner was commissioner, John M’Elvain, agent, and David 
Robb, sub-agent. 

The village of Lewistown derived its name from Captain John 
Lewis, a noted Shawnee chief. When the county was first settled, 
there was living with him, to do his drudgery, an aged white woman, 
named Polly Keyser. She was taken prisoner in early life, near 
Lexington, Ky., and adopted by the Indians. She had an Indian 
husband and two half-breed daughters. There were several other 
whites living in the county, who had been adopted by the Indians. 
We give below sketches of two of them: the first is from N. Z. 
M’Culloch, Esq., a grandson of Isaac Zane—the last from Col. John 
Johnston. 

Isaac Zane was bom about the year 1753, on the south branch of the Potomac, in Vir¬ 
ginia, and at the age of about nine years, was taken prisoner by the Wyandots and carried 
to Detroit. He remained with his captors until the age of manhood, when, like most 
prisoners taken in youth, he refhsed to return to his home and friends. He married a 
Wyandot woman, from Canada, of half French blood, and took no part in the war of the 
revolution. After the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, he bought a tract of 1800 acres, on the 
site of Zanesfield, where he lived until his death, in 1816. 

James M Pherson, or Squa-la-ka-ke, “ the red-faced man,” was a native of Carlisle, 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


305 


Cumberland county, Pa. He was taken prisoner by the Indians on the Ohio, at or near 
the mouth of the Big Miami, in Loughry’s defeat; was for many years engaged in the 
British Indian department, under Elliott and M’Kee, married a fellow-prisoner, came into 
our service after Wayne’s treaty of 1795, and continued in charge of the Shawanoese and 
Senecas of Lewistown until his removal from office, in 1830, since which he has died. 

Logan county was first settled about the year 1806: the names 
of the early settlers recollected, are Robt. and Wm. Moore, Benj. 
and John Schuyler, Philip and Andrew Mathews, John Makimsom, 
John and Levi Garwood, Abisha Warner, Joshua Sharp and brother, 
Samuel, David and Robert Marmon, Samuel and Thomas Newell, 
and Benjamin Joseph Cox. In the late war, the settlements in this 



Public Square , Beliefontaine. 


county were on the verge of civilization, and the troops destined for 
the northwest passed through here. There were several block-house 
stations in the county: namely, Manary’s, M’Pherson’s, Vance’s, 
and Zane’s. Manary’s, built by Capt. Jas. Manary, of Ross county, 
was three miles north of Bellefontaine, on the farm of John Laney; 
M’Pherson’s stood three-fourths of a mile nw., and was built by Capt. 
Maltby, of Green county; Vance’s, built by ex-Gov. Vance, then 
captain of a rifle company, stood on a high bluff on the margin of a 
prairie about a mile east of Logansville; Zane’s block-house was at 
Zanesfield. At the breaking out of the war, many hundred of friend¬ 
ly Indians were collected and stationed at Zane’s and M’Pherson’s 
block-houses, under the protection of the government, who for a 
short time kept a guard of soldiers over them. It was at first 
feared that they would take up arms against the Americans, but sub¬ 
sequent events dissipating these apprehensions, they were allowed to 
disperse. 

Bellefontaine, the county seat, is on the Line of the Cincinnati and 
Sandusky City railroad, 50 miles nw. of Columbus. It was laid out 
March 18th, 1820, on the land of John Tulles and Wm. Powell, and 
named from the fine springs abounding in the vicinity. The first of 
the above lived at the time in a cabin on the town plot, yet standing, 
in the south part of Bellefontaine. After the town was laid out, 
Joseph Gordon built a cabin, now standing, on the corner opposite 
Sheer’s hotel. Anthony Ballard erected the first frame dwelling; 

39 



















306 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


Wm. Scott kept the first tavern, where J. C. ScarfF’s drug store now 
is. Sheer’s tavern was built for a temporary court-house. Joseph 
Gordon, Nathaniel Dodge, Anthony Ballard, Wm. Gutridge, Thos. 
Haynes and John Rhodes were among the first settlers of the town, 
the last of whom was the first merchant. The Methodists built the 
first church, a brick structure, destroyed by fire, which stood on the 
site of their present church. Bellefontaine contains 2 Presbyterian, 
1 Episcopal Methodist and 1 Lutheran church ; 1 newspaper print¬ 
ing office, 11 dry goods stores, and had, in October, 1846, 610 
inhabitants. 



Grave of Simon Kenton. 


About 5 miles ne. of Bellefontaine, on the head waters of Mad 
river, is the grave of Gen. Simon Kenton. He resided for the last 
few years of his life in the small log-house shown on the right of the 
engraving, where he breathed his last. He was buried on a small 
grassy knoll, beside the grave of a Mr. Solomon Praetor, shown on 
the left. Around his grave is a rude and now dilapidated picketing, 
and over it, a small slab bearing the following inscription. 


In memory of Gen. Simon Kenton, who was bom April 3d, 1755, in Culpepper 
county, Va., and died April 29th, 1836, aged 81 years and 26 days. His fellow- 
citizens of the West will long remember him as the skillful pioneer of early 
times, the brave soldier and the honest man. 


Simon Kenton first came out to Kentucky in the year 1771, at 
which time he was a youth of sixteen. He was almost constantly 
engaged in conflicts with the Indians from that time until the treaty 
of Greenville. He was probably in more expeditions against the 
Indians, encountered greater peril, and had more narrow escapes 
from death, than any man of his time. The many incidents of his 
romantic and eventful life are well detailed by his friend and biog¬ 
rapher, Colonel John M’Donald, from whose work we extract the 

















LOGAN COUNTY. 


307 


thrilling narrative of his captivity and hair-breadth escapes from a 
cruel and lingering death. 

Kenton lay about Boon’s and Logan’s stations till ease became irksome to him. About 
the first of September of this same year, 1778, we find him preparing for another Indian 
expedition. Alexander Montgomery and George Clark joined him, and they set off from 
Boon’s station, for the avowed purpose of obtaining horses from the Indians. They crossed 
the Ohio, and proceeded cautiously to Chillicotha, (now Oldtown, Ross county.) They ar¬ 
rived at the town without meeting any adventure. In the night they fell in with a drove of 
horses that were feeding in the rich prairies. They were prepared with salt and halters. 
They had much difficulty to catch the horses ; however, at length they succeeded, and as 
soon as the horses were haltered, they dashed off with seven—a pretty good haul. They 
travelled with all the speed they could to the Ohio. They came to the Ohio near the mouth 
of Eagle creek, now in Brown county. When they came to the river, the wind blew al¬ 
most a hurricane. The waves ran so high that the horses were frightened, and could not 
be induced to take the water. It was late in the evening. They then rode back into the 
hills some distance from the river, hobbled and turned their horses loose to graze ; while 
they turned back some distance, and watched the trail they had come, to discover whether 
or no they were pursued. Here they remained till the following day, when the wind sub¬ 
sided. As soon as the wind fell they caught their horses, and went again to the river; 
but their horses were so frightened with the waves the day before, that all their efforts could 
not induce them to take the water. This was a sore disappointment to our adventurers. 
They were satisfied that they were pursued by the enemy; they therefore determined to lose 
no more time in useless efforts to cross the Ohio ; they concluded to select three of the best 
horses, and make their way to the falls of the Ohio, where Gen. Clark had left some men 
stationed. Each made choice of a horse, and the other horses were turned loose to shift 
for themselves. After the spare horses had been loosed, and permitted to ramble off, ava¬ 
rice whispered to them, and why not take all the horses. The loose horses had by this 
time scattered and straggled out of sight. Our party now separated to hunt up the horses 
they had turned loose. Kenton went towards the river, and had not gone far before he 
heard a whoop in the direction of where they had heen trying to force the horses into the 
water. He got off his horse and tied him, and then crept with the stealthy tread of a cat, 
to make observations in the direction he heard the whoop. Just as he reached the high 
bank of the river, he met the Indians on. horseback. Being unperceived by them, but so 
nigh that it was impossible for him to retreat without being discovered, he concluded the 
boldest course to be the safest, and very deliberately took aim at the foremost Indian. His 
gun flashed in the pan. He then retreated. The Indians pursued on horseback. In his 
retreat, he passed through a piece of land where a storm had torn up a great part of the 
timber. The fallen trees afforded him some advantage of the Indians in the race, as they 
were on horseback and he on foot. The Indian force divided ; some rode on one side of 
the fallen timber, and some on the other. Just as he emerged from the fallen timber, at 
the foot of the hill, one of the Indians met him on horseback, and boldly rode up to him, 
jumped off his horse and rushed at him with his tomahawk. Kenton concluding a gun-bar¬ 
rel as good a weapon of defence as a tomahawk, drew back his gun to strike the Indian 
before him. At that instant another Indian, who unperceived by Kenton had slipped up 
behind him, clasped him in his arms. Being now overpowered by numbers, further resist- 
tance was useless—he surrendered. While the Indians were binding Kenton with tugs, 
Montgomery came in view, and fired at the Indians, but missed his mark. Montgomery 
fled on foot. Some of the Indians pursued, shot at, and missed him ; a second fire was 
made, and Montgomery fell. The Indians soon returned to Kenton, shaking at him Mont¬ 
gomery’s bloody scalp. George Clark, Kenton’s other companion, made his escape, crossed 
the Ohio, and arrived safe at Logan’s station. 

The Indians encamped that night on the bank of the Ohio. The next morning they 
prepared their horses for a return to their towns, with the unfortunate and unhappy pris¬ 
oner. Nothing but death in the most appalling form presented itself to his view. When 
they were ready to set off, they caught the wildest horse in the company, and placed Ken¬ 
ton on his back. The horse being very restif it took several of them to hold him, while 
the others lashed the prisoner on the horse. They first took a tug, or rope, and fastened his 
legs and feet together under the horse. They took another and fastened his arms. They 
took another and tied around his neck, and fastened one end of it around the horse’s neck ; 
the other end of the same rope was fastened to the horse’s tail, to answer in place of a 
crupper. They had a great deal of amusement to themselves, as they were preparing Ken¬ 
ton and his horse for fun and frolic. They would yelp and scream around him, and ask 
him if he wished to steal more horses. Another rope was fastened around his thighs, and 


308 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


lashed around the body of his horse ; a pair of moccasons was drawn over his hands, to pre¬ 
vent him from defending his face from the brush. Thus accoutered and fastened, the horse 
was turned loose to the woods. He reared and plunged, ran through the woods for some 
time, to the infinite amusement of the Indians. After the horse had run about, plunging, 
rearing, and kicking for some time, and found that he could not shake off, nor kick off his ri¬ 
der, he very quietly submitted himself to his situation, and followed the cavalcade as quiet and 
peaceable as his rider. The Indians moved towards Chillicothe, and in three days reached 
the town. At night they confined their prisoner in the following manner: He was laid on 
his back, his legs extended, drawn apart, and fastened to two saplings or stakes driven in 
the ground. His arms were extended, a pole laid across his breast, and his arms lashed to 
the pole with cords. A rope was tied around his neck, and stretched back just tight enough 
not to choke him, and fastened to a tree or stake near his head. In this painful and un¬ 
comfortable situation, he spent three miserable nights, exposed to gnats, and musketoes, 
and weather. O, poor human nature, what miserable wretches we are, thus to punish and 
harrass each other. (The frontier whites of that day, were but little behind the Indians, 
in wiles, in cruelty, and revenge.) When the Indians came within about a mile of the 
Chillicothe town, they halted and camped for the night, and fastened the poor unfortunate 
prisoner in the usual uncomfortable manner. The Indians, young and old, came from the 
town to welcome the return of their successful warriors, and to visit their prisoner. The 
Indian party, young and old, consisting of about 150, commenced dancing, singing and 
yelling around Kenton, stopping occasionally and kicking and beating him for amusement. 
In this manner they tormented him for about three hours, when the cavalcade returned 
to town, and he was left for the rest of the night, exhausted and forlorn, to the tender 
mercies of the gnats and musketoes. As soon as it was light in the morning, the Indians 
began to collect from the town, and preparations were made for fun and frolic at the ex¬ 
pense of Kenton, as he was now doomed to run the gauntlet. The Indians were formed 
in two lines, about six feet apart, with each a hickory in his hands, and Kenton placed 
between the two lines, so that each Indian could beat him as much as he thought proper, 
as he ran through the lines. He had not ran far before he discovered an Indian with his 
knife drawn to plunge it into him ; as soon as Kenton reached that part of the line where 
the Indian stood who had the knife drawn, he broke through the lines, and made with all 
speed for the town. Kenton had been previously informed by a negro named Caesar, who 
lived with the Indians and knew their customs, that if he could break through the Indians’ 
lines, and arrive at the council-house in the town before he was overtaken, that they would 
not force him a second time to run the gauntlet. When he broke through their lines, he 
ran at the top of his speed for the council-house, pursued by two or three hundred Indians, 
screaming like infernal furies. Just as he had entered the town, he was met by an Indian 
leisurely walking towards the scene of amusement, wrapped in a blanket. The Indian 
threw off his blanket; and as he was fresh, and Kenton nearly exhuasted, the Indian soon 
caught him, threw him down. In a moment the whole party who were in pursuit came 
up, and fell to cuffing and kicking him at a most fearful rate. They tore off his clothes, 
and left him naked and exhausted. After he had laid till he had in some degree recovered 
from his exhausted state, they brought him some water and something to eat. As soon as 
his strength was sufficiently recovered, they took him to the council-house, to determine 
upon his fate. Their manner of deciding his fate was as follows: Their warriors were 
placed in a circle in the council house; an old chief was placed in the center of the circle, 
with a knife and a piece of wood in his hands. A number of speeches were made. Ken¬ 
ton, although he did not understand their language, soon discovered by their animated ges¬ 
tures, and fierce looks at him, that a majority of their speakers were contending for his 
destruction. He could perceive that those who plead for mercy, were received coolly ; but 
few grunts of approbation were uttered when the orators closed their speeches. After the 
orators ceased speaking, the old chief who sat in the midst of the circle, raised up and 
handed a war-club to the man who sat next the door. They proceeded to take the deci¬ 
sion of their court. All who were for the death of the prisoner, struck the war-club with 
violence against the ground ; those who voted to save the prisoner’s life, passed the club to 
his next neighbor without striking the ground. Kenton, from their expressive gestures, 
could easily distinguish the object of their vote. The old chief who stood to witness and 
record the number that voted for death or mercy, as one struck the ground with a war-club, 
he made a mark on one side of his piece of wood ; and when the club was passed without 
striking, he made a mark on the other. Kenton discovered that a large majority were for 
death. 

Sentence of death being now passed upon the prisoner, they made the welkin ring with 
shouts of joy. The sentence of death being passed, there was another question of conside- 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


309 


rable difficulty now presented itself to the consideration of the council; that was, the time 
and place, when and where, he should be burnt. The orators again made speeches on the 
subject, less animated indeed than on the trial; but some appeared to be quite vehement for 
instant execution, while others appeared to wish to make his death a solemn national sacrifice. 
After a long debate, the vote was taken, when it was resolved that the place of his execu¬ 
tion should be Wapatomika, (now Zanesfield, Logan county.) The next morning he was 
hurried away to the place destined for his execution. From Chillicothe to Wapatomika, 
they had to pass through two other Indian towns, to wit: Pickaway and Machecheek. At 
both towns he was compelled to run the gauntlet; and severely was he whipped through 
the course. While he lay at Machecheek, being carelessly guarded, he made an attempt to 
escape. Nothing worse than death could follow, and here he made a bold push for life 
and freedom. Being unconfined, he broke and run, and soon cleared himself out of sight 
of his pursuers. While he distanced his pursuers, and got about two miles from the town, 
he accidentally met some Indians on horseback. They instantly pursued and soon came 
up with him, and drove him back again to town. He now, for the first time, gave up hi 3 
case as hopeless. Nothing but death stared him in the face. Fate, it appeared to him, 
had sealed his doom ; and in sullen despair, he determined to await that doom, that it was 
impossible for him to shun. How inscrutable are the ways of Providence, and how little 
can man control his destiny ! When the Indians returned with Kenton to the town, there 
was a general rejoicing. He was pinioned, and given over to the young Indians, who 
dragged him into the creek, tumbled him in the water, and rolled him in the mud, till he was 
nearly suffocated with mud and water. In this way they amused themselves with him till 
he was nearly drowned. He now thought himself forsaken by God. Shortly after this 
his tormenters moved with him to Wapatomika. As soon as he arrived at this place, the 
Indians, young and old, male and female, crowded around the prisoner. Among others 
who came to see him, was the celebrated and notorious Simon Girty. It will be recollected 
that Kenton and Girty were bosom companions at Fort Pitt, and on the campaign with 
Lord Dunmore. As it was the custom of the Indians to black such prisoners as were in¬ 
tended to be put to death, Girty did not immediately recognize Kenton in his black dis¬ 
guise. Girty came forward and inquired of Kenton where he had lived. Was answered 
Kentucky. He next inquired how many men there were in Kentucky. He answered, he 
did not know; but would give him the names and rank of the officers, and he, Girty, could 
judge of the probable number of men. Kenton then named a great many officers, and 
their rank, many of whom had honorary titles, without any command. At length Girty 
asked the prisoner his name. When he was answered, Simon Butler. (It will be recol¬ 
lected, that he changed his name when he fled from his parents and home.) Girty eyed 
him for a moment, and immediately recognized the active and bold youth, who had been 
his companion in arms about Fort Pitt, and on the campaign with Lord Dunmore. Girty 
threw himself into Kenton’s arms, embraced and wept aloud over him—calling him his 
dear and esteemed friend. This hardened wretch, who had been the cause of the death 
of hundreds, had some of the sparks of humanity remaining in him, and wept like a child 
at the tragical fate which hung over his friend. “ Well,” said he to Kenton, “ you are con¬ 
demned to die, but I will use every means in my power to save your life. 

Girty immediately had a council convened, and made a long speech to the Indians, to 
save the life of the prisoner: As Girty was proceeding through his speech, he became 
very animated ; and under his powerful eloquence, Kenton could plainly discover the grim 
visages of his savage judges relent. When Girty concluded his powerful and animated 
speech, the Indians rose with one simultaneous grunt of approbation, saved the prisoner’s 
life, and placed him under the care and protection of his old companion, Girty. 

The British had a trading establishment then at Wapatomika. Girty took Kenton with 
him to the store, and dressed him from head to foot, as well as he could wish: he was also 
provided with a horse and saddle. Kenton was now free, and roamed about through the 
country, from Indian town to town, in company with his benefactor. How uncertain is 
the fate of nations as well as that of individuals ! How sudden the changes from adversity 
to prosperity, and from prosperity to adversity ! Kenton being a strong, robust man, with 
an iron frame, with a resolution that never winced at danger, and fortitude to bear pain 
with the composure of a stoic, he soon recovered from his scourges and bruises, and the 
other severe treatment he had received. It is thought probable, that if the Indians had 
continued to treat him with kindness and respect, he would eventually have become one of 
them. He had but few inducements to return again to the whites. He was then a fugi¬ 
tive from justice, had changed his name, and he thought it his interest to keep as far from 
his former acquaintances as possible. After Kenton and his benefactor had been roaming 
about for some time, a war party of Indians, who had been on an expedition to the neigh- 


310 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


borhood of Wheeling, returned ; they had been defeated by the whites, some of their men 
were killed, and others wounded. When this defeated party returned they were sullen, 
chagrined, and full of revenge, and determined to kill any of the whites who came within 
their grasp. Kenton was the only white man upon whom they could satiate their revenge. 
Kenton and Girty were then at Solomon’s town, a small distance from Wapatomika. A 
message was immediately sent to Girty to return, and bring Kenton with him. The two 
friends met the messenger on their way. The messenger shook hands with Girty, but re¬ 
fused the hand of Kenton. Girty, after talking aside with the messenger some time, said 
to Kenton, they have sent for us to attend a grand council at Wapatomika. They hurried 
to the town ; and when they arrived there the council-house was crowded. When Girty 
went into the house, the Indians all rose up and shook hands with him ; but when Kenton 
offered his hand, it was refused with a scowl of contempt. This alarmed him ; he began 
to admit the idea that this sudden convention of the council, and their refusing his hand, 
boded him some evil. After the members of the council were seated in their usual man¬ 
ner, the war chief of the defeated party rose up and made a most vehement speech, frequently 
turning his fiery and revengeful eyes on Kenton during his speech. Girty was the next to 
rise and address the council. He told them that he had lived with them several years ; that 
he had risked his life in that time more frequently than any of them ; that they all knew that 
he had never spared the life of one of the hated Americans ; that they well knew that he had 
never asked for a division of the spoils; that he fought alone for the destruction of their 
enemies; and he now requested them to spare the life of this young man on his account. 
The young man, he said, was his early friend, for whom he felt the tenderness of a parent 
for a son, and he hoped, after the many evidences that he had given of his attachment to 
the Indian cause, they would not hesitate to grant his request. If they would indulge him 
in granting his request to spare the life of this young man, he would pledge himself never 
to ask them again to spare the life of a hated American. 

Several chiefs spoke in succession on this important subject; and with the most appa¬ 
rent deliberation, the council decided, by an overwhelming majority, for death. After the 
decision of this grand court was announced, Girty went to Kenton, and embracing him 
very tenderly, said that he very sincerely sympathized with him in his forlorn and unfortunate 
situation ; that he had used all the efforts he was master of to save his life, but it was now 
decreed that he must die—that he could do no more for him. Awful doom! 

It will be recollected, that this was in 1778, in the midst of the American revolution. 
Upper Sandusky was then the place where the British paid their western Indian allies their 
annuities; and as time might effect what his eloquence could not, Girty, as a last resort, 
persuaded the Indians to convey their prisoner to Sandusky, as there would meet vast 
numbers to receive their presents; that the assembled tribes could there witness the solemn 
scene of the death of the prisoner. To this proposition the council agreed ; and the pris¬ 
oner was placed in the care of five Indians, who forthwith set off for Upper Sandusky. 
What windings, and twistings, and turnings, were seen in the fate of our hero. 

As the Indians passed from Wapatomika to Upper Sandusky, they went through a small 
village on the river Scioto, where then resided the celebrated chief, Logan, of Jefferson 
memory. Logan, unlike the rest of his tribe, was humane as he was brave. At his wig¬ 
wam the party who had the care of the prisoner, staid over night. During the evening, 
Logan entered into conversation with the prisoner. The next morning he told Kenton 
that he would detain the party that day—that he had sent two of his young men off the 
night before to Upper Sandusky, to speak a good word for him. Logan was great and 
good—the friend ot all men. In the course of the following evening his young men re¬ 
turned, and early the next morning the guard set off with the prisoner for Upper Sandusky. 
When Kenton’s party set off from Logan’s, Logan shook hands with the prisoner, but gave 
no intimation of what might probably be his fate. The party went on with Kenton till 
they came in view of the Upper Sandusky town. The Indians, young and old, came out to 
meet and welcome the warriors, and view the prisoner. Here he was not compelled to run 
the gauntlet. A grand council was immediately convened to determine upon the fate of 
Kenton. This was the fourth council which was held to dispose of the life of the pris¬ 
oner. As soon as this grand court was organized and ready to proceed to business, a Ca¬ 
nadian frenchman, by the name of Peter Druyer, who was a captain in the British service, 
and dressed in the gaudy appendages of the British uniform, made his appearance in the 
council. This Druyer was born and raised in Detroit—he was connected with the British 
Indian agent department—was their principal interpreter in settling Indian affairs ; this 
made him a man of great consequence among the Indians. It was to this influential man, 
that the good chief Logan, the friend of all the human family, sent his young men to intercede 
for the life of Kenton. His judgment and address were only equalled by his humanity. 


LOGAN COUNTY. 


311 


His foresight in selecting the agent who it was most probable could save the life of the 
prisoner, proves his judgment and his knowledge of the human heart. As soon as the 
grand council was organized, Capt. Druyer requested permission to address the council. 
This permission was instantly granted. He began his speech by stating, “ that it was well- 
known that it was the wish and interest of the English that not an American should be 
left alive. That the Americans were the cause of the present bloody and distressing war— 
that neither peace nor safety could be expected, so long as these intruders were permitted 
to live upon the earth.” This part of his speech received repeated grunts of approbation. 
He then explained to the Indians, “ that the war to be carried on successfully, required 
cunning as well as bravery—that the intelligence which might be extorted from a prisoner, 
would be of more advantage, in conducting the future operations of the war, than would 
be the life of twenty prisoners. That he had no doubt but the commanding officer at 
Detroit could procure information from the prisoner now before them, that would be of in¬ 
calculable advantage to them in the progress of the present war. Under these circumstan¬ 
ces, he hoped they would defer the death of the prisoner till he was taken to Detroit, and 
examined by the commanding general. After which he could be brought back, and if 
thought advisable, upon further consideration, he might be put to death in any manner they 
thought proper.” He next noticed, “ that they had already a great deal of trouble and 
fatigue with the prisoner without being revenged upon him ; but that they had got back all 
the horses the prisoner had stolen from them, and killed one of his comrades; and to in¬ 
sure them something for their fatigue and trouble, he himself would give $100 in rum 
and tobacco, or any other articles they would choose, if they would let him take the pris¬ 
oner to Detroit, to be examined by the British general.” The Indians, without hesitation, 
agreed to Captain Druyer’s proposition, and he paid down the ransom. As soon as these 
arrangements were concluded, Druyer and a principal chief set off with the prisoner for 
Lower Sandusky. From this place they proceeded by water to Detroit, where they ar¬ 
rived in a few days. Here the prisoner was handed over to the commanding officer, and 
lodged in the fort as a prisoner of war. He was now out of danger from the Indians, and 
was treated with the usual attention of prisoners of war in civilized countries. The Brit¬ 
ish commander gave the Indians some additional remuneration for the life of the prisoner, 
and they returned satisfied to join their countrymen at Wapatomika. 

As soon as Kenton’s mind was out of suspense, his robust constitu¬ 
tion and iron frame in a few days recovered from the severe treat¬ 
ment they had undergone. Kenton remained at Detroit until the 
June following, when he, with other prisoners, escaped, and after 
enduring great privations, rejoined their friends. 

About the year 1802, he settled in Urbana, where he remained 
some years, and was elected brigadier-general of militia. In the 
war of 1812, he joined the army of Gen. Harrison, and was at the 
battle of the Moravian town, where he displayed his usual intrepid¬ 
ity. About the year 1820, he moved to the head of Mad river. A 
few years after, through the exertions of Judge Burnet and General 
Vance, a pension of $20 per month was granted to him, which 
secured his declining age from want. He died in 1836, at which 
time he had been a member of the Methodist church about 18 years. 
The frosts of more than eighty winters had fallen on his head with¬ 
out entirely whitening his locks. His biographer thus describes his 
personal appearance and character. 

General Kenton was of fair complexion, six feet one inch in height. He stood and 
walked very erect; and, in the prime of life, weighed about one hundred and ninety pounds. 
He never was inclined to be corpulent, although of sufficient fullness to form a graceful 
person. He had a soft, tremulous voice, very pleasing to the hearer. He had laughing, 
grey eyes, which appeared to fascinate the beholder. He was a pleasant, good-humored 
and obliging companion. When excited, or provoked to anger, (which was seldom the 
case,) the fiery glance of his eye would almost curdle the blood of those with whom he 
came in contact. His rage, when roused, was a tornado. In his dealing, he was perfectly 
honest; his confidence in man, and his credulity, were such, that the same man might cheat 
him twenty times; and if he professed friendship, he might cheat him still. 


312 


LORAIN' COUNTY. 


West Liberty is 8 miles south of Bellefontaine, on the Cincinnati 
and Sandusky City railroad. This is a thriving, compact, business¬ 
like town, and in a beautiful country. It lies upon Mad river, one 
of the best mill streams in the state, the valley of which is here two 
or three miles wide. The Miami feeder, which enters the main 
trunk at Lockport, and now extends as far as Port Jefferson, in 
Shelby county, will probably be continued to the Mad river at this 
place, an act of the legislature having been passed to that effect. 
West Liberty contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist and 1 Christian 
church, 9 stores, 1 flouring, 1 saw, 1 carding and fulling mill, and a 
population but little less than the county seat. 

Zanesfield, 4j miles east of Bellefontaine, on Mad river, has 5 
stores, 1 grist and 3 saw mills ; 1 Methodist church, 1 Friends’ meet¬ 
ing-house, and about 230 inhabitants. Cherokee, 6 miles north of 
Bellefontaine, Logansville, 10 west, Middleburgh, 11 southeast, and 
Quincy, 13 southwest, are places about the size and importance of 
Zanesfield. East Liberty, Rushsylvania and Richland are also small 
villages. 


LORAIN. 

Lorain was formed December 26th, 1822, from Huron, Cuyahoga 
and Medina. The surface is level, and the soil fertile and generally 
clayey. Parallel with the lake shore, are three sand ridges, which 
vary from 40 to 150 rods in width: they are respectively about 3, 
7 and 9 miles from the lake, and are fertile. The agriculture of 
Lorain is rapidly improving. The principal crops are grass, wheat, 
corn, oats, rye and potatoes. Dairy products, wool and beef cattle 
are also staple products, and madder and oil of peppermint are also 
produced. Bog iron ore is found in quantities. The following is a 
list of the townships in 1840, with their population: 


Amherst, 

1186 

Eaton, 

764 

Ridgeville, 

818 

Aaron, 

1211 

Elyria, 

1636 

Rochester, 

487 

Blackriver, 

668 

Grafton, 

713 

Russia, 

1302 

Brighton, 

999 

Henrietta, 

743 

Sheffield, 

521 

Brownhelm, 

934 

Huntington, 

743 

Sullivan, 

782 

Camden, 

504 

Lagrange, 

Pennfield, 

Pittsfield, 

991 

Troy 

289 

Carlisle, 

Columbia, 

1094 

876 

405 

704 

Wellington, 

781 


The population of Lorain, in 1830, was 5,696, and in 1840,18,451, 
or 33 inhabitants to the square mile. 

There was found in this county, a few years since, a curious 
ancient relic, which is thus described in the Lorain Republican, of 
June 7, 1843. 

“ In connection with our friend Mr. L. M. Parsons, we have pro¬ 
cured two views or sketches of the engravings upon a stone column 



LORAIN COUNTV. 


313 




or idol, found upon the farm of Mr. Alfred Lamb, in Brighton, in 

this county, in 1838. The fol¬ 
lowing is a side view of the pil¬ 
lar or column. 

“ It was found about three 
fourths of a mile from Mr. 
Lamb’s house, covered with a 
thick coat of moss. Upon three 
different places are engraved 
the figures 1533. The horns 
represented are now broken off, 
but their place is easily defined. 
A flat stone, 8 inches in diam¬ 
eter and 1^ inches thick, was 
found beneath this column, on 
removing it from its erect po¬ 
sition, upon which the figures 
1533 were discovered, also engraved. Another stone was found 
about 10 feet distant, of like quality. It was about fl inches long and 3 

in diameter, (6 sided,) support¬ 
ed by 3 pillars about 3 inches 
long, of pyramidal form. No 
marks of tools were upon it. 
Upon the top part of the first 
mentioned pillars, above shown, 
was an engraving of a vessel 
under full sail, in form, as near 
as now can be ascertained, as 
follows. The engraving was 
most unfortunately nearly ob¬ 
literated by the boys cracking 
hickory nuts upon it. These 
are about all the facts con¬ 
nected with these curious rel¬ 
ics, which have come to our 

knowledge.” 

In connection with the above editorial, Mr. Parsons, in his com¬ 
munication, says: 

“ I believe there can be a good deal of evidence collected in this 
section of country, which will go to prove that it was once inhabited 
by a race who emigrated either from South America or the southern 
portion of North America, or at least had commercial relations with 
that country. I will refer to one circumstance, which, doubtless, 
antiquarians will regard as worthy of record. In the township of 
Perry, Lake county, about the year 1820, in digging into an Indian 
burying field, a club of nicaraugua was found in connection with 
the bones of a man. The club was sound, but the bones were con¬ 
siderably decayed, and bore the same evidence of the effect of 
time as those usuallv found in our ancient burying grounds. The 

40 














314 


LORAIN COUNTY, 


women are more utilitarians than antiquarians, for on calling for the 
club a few days after, I found they had cut it up to color with, and 
they said it was as good as any they ever got at stores.” 

Elyria, the county seat, is 7 miles from Lake Erie, 24 west of 
Cleveland, and 130 northeast of Columbus. The first settler in the 
town and township, was Mr. Heman Ely, from West Springfield, 



Public Square, Elyria. 


Mass., who came out here in March, 1817, and built a cabin about 
12 rods southeast of his present residence. He brought with him 
some hired men, to make improvements on his land, a large tract of 
which he had purchased at this place and vicinity. The village was 
soon laid out, and some time in the succeeding year, Mr. Ely moved 
into his present residence, the first frame house erected in the town¬ 
ship. The name Elyria, was formed from the surname of Mr. Ely 
and the last syllable of the given name of his wife, Ma -ria. Upon 
the organization of the county, the old court house was built, which 
was used as a church by the Presbyterians, until they built a house 
of worship, the first erected in the village. Elyria is a beautiful 
and thriving village ; in its center is a handsome public square, shown 
in the engraving: the large building in front is the court house, be¬ 
yond, on the right, is the public square, on which are seen, facing 
“ Beebe’s block,” “ the Mansion House” and “ the brick block.” The 
Gothic structure on the left, is the Presbyterian church, designed by 

R. A. Sheldon, of New York, and erected in 1846-7, by H. J. & 

S. C. Brooks, of Elyria; it is one of the most elegant churches in 
Ohio, built of sandstone, and finished throughout in a tasteful and 
substantial manner, at an expense of about $8000. 

The village stands on a peninsula, formed by the forks of Black 
river, on which, near the town, are two beautiful falls, of 40 feet 
perpendicular descent, highly valuable for manufacturing purposes. 
At the falls on the west fork, the scenery is wild and picturesque ; the 
rocks are lofty, and overhang the valley for perhaps some 30 feet. 
At that point is a large cavern, of a semi-circular form, about 75 





















LORAIN COUNTY. 


815 


feet deep, 100 broad at the entrance, with a level floor, and wall 
from 5 to 9 feet high, forming a cool and romantic retreat from the 
heats of summer. The sandstone bounding the valley, is of an ex¬ 
cellent quality, and is much used for building purposes. Elyria 
contains 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, 1 Baptist, 1 Disciples and 1 or 2 
Presbyterian churches, 1 classical academy, 6 dry goods, 3 grocery 
and 3 drug stores, 1 newspaper printing office, 1 woollen, 1 axe, and 
sash and blind factory, 1 furnace, 1 machine shop, 3 flouring mills 
and about 1500 inhabitants. 



Collegiate Buildings, Oberlin. 


Eight miles southwest of Elyria, is the village of Oberlin, so 
named from Rev. John Frederic Oberlin, pastor of Waldbach, Swit¬ 
zerland, who was remarkable for his great benevolence of character: 
he was born in Strasbourg, in 1740, and died at Waldbach, in 1826. 
The town is situated on a beautiful and level plain, girted around by 
the original forest in its primitive majesty. The dwellings at Ober¬ 
lin are usually two stories in height, built of wood, and painted 
white, after the manner of the villages of New England, to which 
this has a striking resemblance. Oberlin contains 3 dry goods and 
1 book store, a Presbyterian church, the collegiate buildings, and 
about 150 dwellings. The Oberlin Evangelist, which has a circula¬ 
tion of 5000, and the Oberlin Quarterly Review, are published here. 
The engraving shows, on the right, the Presbyterian church, a sub¬ 
stantial brick building, neatly finished externally and internally, and 
capable of holding a congregation of 3000 persons ; beyond it, on a 
green of about 12 acres, stands Tappan Hall; and facing the green, 
commencing on the left, are seen Oberlin Hall, Ladies’ Hall and 
Colonial Hall, all of which buildings belong to the Institute. By the 
annual catalogue of 1846-7, there were at Oberlin 492 pupils, viz: 
in the theological department, 25; college, 106; teachers depart¬ 
ment, 16; shorter course, 4; male preparatory, 174; young ladies’ 
course, 140; and ladies’ preparatory, 28. Of these, there were 
males 314, and females 178. The annexed sketch of Oberlin was 



















316 


LORAIN COUNTY. 


written by J. A. Harris, editor of the Cleveland Herald, and pub¬ 
lished in that print, in 1845. 

The Oberlin Collegiate Institute is emphatically the people’s college, and although some 
of its leading characteristics are peculiar to the institution, and are at variance with the 
general public opinion and prejudices, the college exerts a wide and healthful influence. It 
places a useful and thoroughly practical education within the reach of indigent and indus¬ 
trious young men and women, as well as those in affluent circumstances ; and many in all 
ranks of life avail themselves of the rare advantages enjoyed at Oberlin. The average 
number of students the last five years is 528, and this, too, be it remembered, in an institu¬ 
tion that has sprung up in what was a dense wilderness but a dozen years ago! To re¬ 
move all incredulity, we will give a concise history of its origin and progress. 

The Rev. John J. Shipherd was a prominent founder of Oberlin. His enterprising spirit 
led in the devising and incipient steps. Without any fund in the start, in August, 1832, he 
rode over the ground, for inspection, where the village of Oberlin now stands. It was then 
a dense, heavy, unbroken forest, the land level and wet, almost inaccessible by roads, and 
the prospects for a settlement forbidding in the extreme. In November, 1832, Mr. Ship- 
herd, in company with a few others, selected the site. Five hundred acres of land were 
conditionally pledged by Messrs. Street and Hughes, of New Haven, Conn., on which the 
college buildings now stand. A voluntary board of trustees held their first meeting in the 
winter of 1832, in a small Indian opening on the site. The legislature of 1833-4, granted 
a charter with university privileges. Improvements were commenced, a log house or two 
were erected, people began to locate in the colony, and in 1834, the board of trustees re¬ 
solved to open the school for the reception of colored persons of both sexes, to be regarded 
as on an equality with others. In January, 1835, Messrs. Mahan, Finney and Morgan 
were appointed as teachers, and in May of that year, Mr. Mahan commenced house-keep¬ 
ing in a small log dwelling. Such was the beginning—and the present result is a striking 
exemplification of what obstacles can be overcome, and what good can be accomplished 
under our free institutions, by the indomitable energy, earnest zeal, and unfaltering perse¬ 
verance of a few men, when they engage heart and soul in a great philanthropic enterprise. 

Oberlin is now a pleasant, thriving village, of about two thousand souls, with necessary 
stores and mechanics’ shops, the largest church in the state, and a good temperance hotel. 
It is a community of tetotallers, from the highest to the lowest, the sale of ardent spirits 
never having been permitted within its borders. The college buildings number seven com¬ 
modious edifices. Rev. A. Mahan, is president of the Collegiate Institute, assisted by fifteen 
able professors and teachers. Endowments—eight professorships are supported in part by 
pledges; 500 acres of land at Oberlin, and 10,000 acres in western Virginia. 

OBJECTS OF THE INSTITUTION. 

1. To educate youths of both sexes, so as to secure the development of a strong mind 
in a sound body, connected with a permanent, vigorous, progressive piety—all to be aided 
by a judicious system of manual labor. 

2. To beget and to confirm in the process of education the habit of self-denial, patient 
endurance, a chastened moral courage, and a devout consecration of the whole being to God, 
in seeking the best good of man. 

3. To establish universal liberty by the abolition of every form of sin. 

4. To avoid the debasing association of the heathen classics, and make the bible a text¬ 
book in all the departments of education. 

5. To raise up a church and ministers who shall be known and read of all men in deep 
sympathy with Christ, in holy living, and in efficient action against all which God forbids. 

6. To furnish a seminary, affording thorough instruction in all the branches of an educa¬ 
tion for both sexes, and in which colored persons, of both sexes, shall be freely admitted, 
and on the terms of equality and brotherhood. 

We confess that much of our prejudice against the Oberlin College has been removed by 
a visit to the institution. The course of training and studies pursued there, appear ad¬ 
mirably calculated to rear up a class of healthy, useful, self-educated and self-relying men 
and women—a class which the poor man’s son and daughter may enter on equal terms 
■with others, with an opportunity to outstrip in the race, as they often do. It' is the only 
college in the United States where females enjoy the privileges of males in acquiring an 
education, and where degrees are conferred on ladies; and this peculiar feature of the in¬ 
struction has proved highly useful. By combining manual labor with study, the physical 
system keeps pace with the mind in strength and development, and the result in most cases 
is “sound minds in healthy bodies.” Labor and attention to household duties are made 
familiar and honorable, and pleased as we were to note the intelligent and healthful coun- 


LUCAS COUNTY. 


317 


tenances of the young ladies seated at the boarding house dinner table, the gratification 
was heightened shortly after by observing the same graceful forms clad in tidy long aprons, 
and busily engaged in putting the dining hall in order. And the literary exercises of the 
same ladies, proved that the labor of the hands in the institution had been no hindrance in 
the acquisition of knowledge. 

Young in years as is Oberlin, the institution has sent abroad many well qualified and 
diligent laborers in the great moral field of the world. Her graduates may be found in 
nearly every missionary clime, and her scholars are active co-workers in many of the phi¬ 
lanthropic movements that distinguish the age. It is the people’s college, and long may it 
prove an increasing blessing to the people. 

Black River, at the mouth of Black River, 8 miles from Elyria, 
has a good harbor, capable of much improvement. It is the prin¬ 
cipal port of the county : it has a beacon, several forwarding houses 
and stores, and about 50 dwellings. La Porte, 3 miles se. of E., on 
the Wooster and Akron road, has 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist and 
1 Universalist church, 2 stores and about 50 dwellings. There are 
other small villages, among which may be named Corwinville, Fish 
Creek, Wellington Center and Grafton Center. 


LUCAS. 

Lucas, named from the Hon. Robert Lucas, governor of Ohio 
from 1832 to 1836, has been created within a few years. The sur¬ 
face is level, a portion of it covered by the black swamp, and the 
northern part a sandy soil. The principal productions are Indian 
corn, wheat, potatoes and oats. The following is a list of the town¬ 
ships in 1840, with their population: 


Amboy, 452 

Port Lawrence, 

2335 

Sylvania, 

426 

Chesterfield, 301 

Providence, 

160 

Waterville, 

755 

Clinton, 353 

Richfield, 

204 

Waynesfield, 

1290 

German, 452 

Gorham, 352 

Oregon, 264 

Royalton, 

401 

Wing, 

145 

Springfield, 
Swan Creek, 

443 

494 

York, 

435 


The population of Lucas, in 1840, was 9392, or about 5 inhab¬ 
itants to the square mile. 

This region of country—the Maumee valley—has been the theater 
of important historical incidents. The greatest event, Wayne’s 
victory, or “the battle of Fallen Timbers,” was fought August 20th, 
1794, within the limits of this county. 

On the 28th of July, Wayne having been joined by General Scott, 
with 1600 mounted Kentuckians, moved forward to the Maumee. 
By the 8th of August, the army had arrived near the junction of the 
Auglaize with that stream, and commenced the erection of Fort 
Defiance, at that point. The Indians, having learned from a deserter 
of the approach of Wayne’s army, hastily abandoned their head 
quarters at Auglaize, and thus defeated the plan of Wayne to sur¬ 
prise them, for which object he had cut two roads, intending to march 
by neither. At Fort Defiance, Wayne received full information of 



318 


LUCAS COUNTY. 


the Indians, and the assistance they were to derive from the volun¬ 
teers at Detroit and vicinity. On the 13th of August, true to the 
spirit of peace advised by Washington, he sent Christian Miller, who 
had been naturalized among the Shawanese, as a special messenger 
to offer terms of friendship. Impatient of delay, he moved forward, 
and on the 16th, met Miller on his return with the message, that if 
the Americans would wait ten days at Grand Glaize, [Fort Defiance,] 
they—the Indians—would decide for peace or war. On the 18th, 
the army arrived at Roche de Boeuf, just south of the site of Water- 
ville, where they erected some light works as a place of deposite 
for their heavy baggage, which was named Fort Deposite. During 
the 19th, the army labored at their works, and about 8 o’clock on 
the morning of the 20th, moved forward to attack the Indians, who 
were encamped on the bank of the Maumee, at and around a hill 
called “ Presque Isle,” about two miles south of the site of Maumee 
City, and four south of the British Fort Miami. From Wayne’s re¬ 
port of the battle, we make the following extract: 

The legion was on the right, its flank covered by the Maumee: one brigade of mounted 
volunteers on the left, under Brig. Gen. Todd, and the other in the rear, under Brig. Gen. 
Barbee. A select battalion of mounted volunteers moved in front of the legion, com¬ 
manded by Major Price, who was directed to keep sufficiently advanced, so as to give 
timely notice for the troops to form in case of action, it being yet undetermined whether 
the Indians would decide for peace or war. 

After advancing about five miles. Major Price’s corps received so severe a fire from the 
enemy, who were secreted in the woods and high grass, as to compel them to retreat. The 
legion was immediately formed in two lines, principally in a close thick wood, which ex¬ 
tended for miles on our left, and for a very considerable distance in front; the ground 
being covered with old fallen timber, probably occasioned by a tornado, which rendered it 
impracticable for the cavalry to act with effect, and afforded the enemy the most favorable 
covert for their mode of warfare. The savages were formed in three lines, within sup¬ 
porting distance of each other, and extending for near two miles at right angles with the 
river. I soon discovered, from the weight of the fire and extent of their lines, that the 
enemy were in full force in front, in possession of their favorite ground, and endeavoring 
to turn our left flank. I therefore gave orders for the second line to advance and support 
the first; and directed Major General Scott to gain and turn the right flank of the savages, 
with the whole force of the mounted volunteers, by a circuitous route ; at the same time I 
ordered the front line to advance and charge with trailed arms, and rouse the Indians from 
their coverts at the point of the bayonet, and when up, to deliver a close and well-directed 
fire on their backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not to give them time to load again. 

I also ordered Captain Mis Campbell, who commanded the legionary cavalry, to turn the 
left flank of the enemy next the river, and which afforded a favorable field for that corps 
to act in. All these orders were obeyed with spirit and promptitude; but such was the 
impetuosity of the charge by the first line of infantry, that the Indians and Canadian 
militia and volunteers were drove from all their coverts in so short a time, that although 
every possible exertion was used by the officers of the second line of the legion, and by 
Generals Scott, Todd and Barbee, of the mounted volunteers, to gain their proper posi¬ 
tions, but part of each could get up in season to participate in the action ; the enemy being 
drove, in the course of one hour, more than two miles through the thick woods already 
mentioned, by less than one half their numbers. From every account the enemy amounted 
to two thousand combatants. The troops actually engaged against them were short of nine 
hundred. This horde of savages, with their allies, abandoned themselves to flight, and 
dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving our victorious army in full and quiet possession 
of the field of battle, which terminated under the influence of the guns of the British gar¬ 
rison. ***** 

The bravery and conduct of every officer belonging to the army, from the generals down 
to the ensigns, merit my highest approbation. There were, however, some whose rank 
and situation placed their conduct in a very conspicuous point of view, and which I ob¬ 
served with pleasure, and the most lively gratitude. Among whom, I must beg leave to 


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320 


LUCAS COUNTY. 


mention Brigadier General Wilkinson and Colonel Hamtramck, the commandants of the 
right and left wings of the legion, whose brave example inspired the troops. To those I 
must add the names of my faithful and gallant aids-de-camp, Captains De Butt and T. 
Lewis, and Lieutenant Harrison, who, with the Adjutant General, Major Mills, rendered 
the most essential service by communicating my orders in every direction, and by their con¬ 
duct and bravery exciting the troops to press for victory. * * * 

The loss of the enemy was more than that of the federal army. The woods were 
strewed for a considerable distance with the dead bodies of Indians and their white auxil¬ 
iaries, the latter armed with British muskets and bayonets. 

We remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the field 
of battle, during which time all the houses and corn-fields were consumed and destroyed 
for a considerable distance, both above and below Fort Miami, as well as within pistol-shot 
of the garrison, who were compelled to remain tacit spectators to this general devastation 
and conflagration, among which were the houses, stores and property of Colonel M’Kee, 
the British Indian agent and principal stimulator of the war now existing between the 
United States and the savages. 

The loss of the Americans in this battle, was 33 killed and 100 
wounded, including 5 officers among the killed, and 19 wounded. 

One of the Canadians taken in the action, estimated the force of 
the Indians at about 1400. He also stated that about 70 Canadians 
were with them, and that Col. M’Kee, Capt. Elliott and Simon Girty 
were in the field, but at a respectful distance, and near the river. 
When the broken remains of the Indian army were pursued under 
the British fort, the soldiers could scarce be restrained from storm¬ 
ing it. This, independent of its results in bringing on a war with 
Great Britain, would have been a desperate measure, as the fort 
mounted 10 pieces of artillery, and was garrisoned by 450 men, 
while Wayne had no armament proper to attack such a strongly 
fortified place. While the troops remained in the vicinity, there 
did not appear to be any communication between the garrison and 
the savages. The gates were shut against them, and their rout and 
slaughter witnessed with apparent unconcern by the British. That 
the Indians were astonished at the lukewarmness of their real allies, 
and regarded the fort, in case of defeat, as a place of refuge, is evi¬ 
dent from various circumstances, not the least of which was the well 
known reproach of Tecumseh, in his celebrated speech to Proctor, 
after Perry’s victory. The near approach of the troops drew forth 
a letter of remonstrance from Major Campbell, the British com¬ 
mandant, to General Wayne. A sharp correspondence ensued, but 
without any especial results. The morning before the army left, 
General Wayne, after arranging his force in such a manner as to 
show that they were all on the alert, advanced with his numerous 
staff and a small body of cavalry, to the glacis of the British fort, re- 
connoitering it with great deliberation, while the garrison were seen 
with lighted matches, prepared for any emergency. It is said that 
Wayne’s party overheard one of the British subordinate officers 
appeal to Major Campbell, for permission to fire upon the cavalcade, 
and avenge such an insulting parade under his majesty’s guns; but 
that officer chided him with the abrupt exclamation, “ be a gentle¬ 
man ! be a gentleman /” On the 27th, Wayne’s army returned to 
Fort Defiance, by easy marches, laying waste the villages and corn 
fields of the Indians, for about 50 miles on each side of the Mau- 


LUCAS COUNTY. 321 

mee: this was done with the hope that the fear of famine would 
prove a powerful auxiliary in producing peace. 

Jonathan Alder, who was at this time living with the Indians, has 

f iven, in his mss. autobiography, the Indian account of the battle of 
alien Timbers. He says, after describing the attack on Fort Re¬ 
covery and the retreat to Defiance: 

We remained here [Defiance] about two weeks, until we heard of the approach of Wayne, 
when we packed up our goods and started for the old English fort at the Maumee rapids. 
Here we prepared ourselves for battle, and sent the women and children down about three 
miles below the fort; and as I did not wish to fight, they sent me to Sandusky, to inform 
some Wyandots there of the great battle that was about to take place. I remained at San¬ 
dusky until the battle was over. The Indians did not wait more than three or four days, 
before Wayne made his appearance at the head of a long prairie on the river, where he 
halted, and waited for an opportunity to suit himself. Now the Indians are very curious 
about fighting; for when they know they are going into a battle, they will not eat any 
thing just previous. They say that if a man is shot in the body when he is entirely empty, 
there is not half as much danger of the ball passing through his bowels, as when they are 
full. So they started the first morning without eating any thing, and moving up to the end 
of the prairie, ranged themselves in order of battle at the edge of the timber There they 
waited all day without any food, and at night returned and partook of their suppers. The 
second morning they again placed themselves in the same position, and again returned at 
night and supped. By this time they had begun to get weak from eating only once a day, 
and concluded they would eat breakfast before they again started. So the next morning 
they began to cook and eat. Some were eating, and others, who had finished, had moved 
forward to their stations, when Wayne’s army was seen approaching. Soon as they were 
within gunshot, the Indians began firing upon them; but Wayne, making no halt, rushed on 
upon them. Only a small part of the Indians being on the ground, they were obliged to give 
back, and finding Wayne too strong for them, attempted to retreat. Those who were on 
the way heard the noise, and sprang to their assistance. So some were running from, and 
others to the battle, which created great confusion. In the mean time, the light-horse had 
gone entirely around, and came in upon their rear, blowing their horns and closing in upon 
them. The Indians now found that they were completely surrounded, and all that could, 
made their escape, and the balance were all killed, which was no small number. Among 
these last, with one or two exceptions, were all the Wyandots that lived at Sandusky at the 
time I went to inform them of the expected battle. The main body of the Indians were 
back nearly two miles from the battle-ground, and Wayne had taken them by surprise, and 
made such a slaughter among them that they were entirely discouraged, and made the best 
of their way to their respective homes. 

We insert below some anecdotes of the battle, the first three of 
which are derived from a published source, and the last, second-hand 
from Gen. Harrison. 

At the time Capt. Campbell was endeavoring to turn the left flank of the enemy, three 
Indians, being hemmed in by the cavalry and infantry, plunged into the river, and endeav¬ 
ored to swim to the opposite side. Two negroes of the army, on the opposite bank, con¬ 
cealed themselves behind a log to intercept them. When within shooting distance, one of 
them shot the foremost through the head. The other two took hold of him to drag him to 
shore, when the second negro fired and killed another. The remaining Indian being now 
in shoal water, endeavored to tow the dead bodies to the bank. In the mean time the 
first negro had re-loaded, and firing upon the survivor, mortally wounded him. On ap¬ 
proaching them, the negroes judged from their striking resemblance and devotion, that they 
were brothers. After scalping them, they let their bodies float down stream. 

Another circumstance goes to show with what obstinacy the conflict was maintained, by 
individuals in both armies. A soldier who had got detached a short distance from the army, 
met a single Indian in the woods, when they attacked each other—the soldier with his bayo¬ 
net, the Indian with his tomahawk. Two days after, they were found dead ; the soldier 
with his bayonet in the body of the Indian—the Indian with his tomahawk in the head of 
the soldier. 

Several months after the battle of Fallen Timbers, a number of Potawatamie Indians ar¬ 
rived at Fort Wayne, where they expressed a desire to see “ The Wind," as they called 
Gen. Wayne. On being asked for an explanation of the name, they replied, that at the bat- 

41 


322 


Lucas county. 


tie of the 20th of August, he was exactly like a hurricane, which drives and tears every 
thing before it. 

Gen. Wayne was a man of most ardent impulses, and in the heat of action apt to forget 
that he was the general—not the soldier. When the attack on the Indians who were con¬ 
cealed behind the fallen timbers, was commencing by ordering the regulars up, the late 
Gen. Harrison, then aid to Wayne, being lieutenant with the title of major, addressed his 
superior—“ Gen. Wayne, I am afraid you will get into the fight yourself, and forget to give 
me the necessary field orders.” “ Perhaps I may,” replied Wayne, “ and if I do, recollect 
the standing order for the day is, charge the d-d rascals with the bayonets.” 

That this Indian war was in a great measure sustained by British 
influence, admits of ample proof. That they lent their aid in this 
campaign and battle, is fully confirmed in the extract given from a 
letter from Gen. Harrison to Hon. Thomas Chilton, dated North 
Bend, Feb. 17th, 1834. 

That the northwestern and Indian war was a continuation of the revolutionary contest, 
is susceptible of proof. The Indians in that quarter had been engaged in the first seven 
years of the war, as the allies of Great Britain, and they had no inclination to continue it 
after the peace of 1783. It is to British influence that their subsequent hostilities are to be 
attributed. The agents of that government never ceased to stimulate their enmity against 
the government of the United States, and to represent the peace which had been made as a 
temporary truce, at the expiration of which, “ their great fathers would unite with them in 
the war, and drive the long knives from the land which they had so unjustly usurped from 
his red children.” This was the cause of the detention of the posts of Detroit, Mackinaw, 
and Niagara, so long after the treaty of 1783. The reasons assigned for so doing, deceived 
nobody, after the failure of the negotiation attempted by Gen. Lincoln, Gov. Randolph and 
Col. Pickering, under British mediation voluntarily tendered. 

The bare suggestion of a wish by the British authorities, would have been sufficient to 
induce the Indians to accept the terms proposed by the American commissioners. But at 
any rate, the withholding the supplies with which the Indians had been previously furnished, 
would have left no other alternative but to make peace. From that period, however, the 
war was no longer carried on “ in disguise.” Acts of open hostility were committed. In 
June, 1794, the Indians assembled at the Miami of the Lake, and were completely equipped 
out of the King’s store, from the fort (a large and regularly fortified -work) which had been 
built there in the preceding spring, for the purpose of supporting the operations of the Indians 
against the army of Gen. Wayne. Nor was the assistance limited to the supply of provi¬ 
sions and munitions of war. On the advance of the Indians, they were attended by a cap¬ 
tain of the British army, a serjeant, and six matrosses, provided with fixed ammunition, 
suited to the caliber of two field pieces, which had been taken from Gen. St. Clair, and de¬ 
posited in a creek near the scene of his defeat in 1791. Thus attended, they appeared be¬ 
fore Fort Recovery, (the advanced post of our army,) on the 4th of July, 1794, and having 
defeated a large detachment of our troops, encamped under its walls, would probably have 
succeeded in taking the fort, if the guns which they expected to find had not been pre¬ 
viously discovered and removed. In this action, Capt. Hartshorn, of the 1st sub-legion, 
was wounded by the Indians, and afterwards killed in a struggle with Capt. M’Kee of the 
British army.* 

Upon the advance of the American army in the following month, the British fort at the 
Rapids was again the point of rendezvous for the Indians. There the deficiencies in arms, 
ammunition and equipments, were again supplied ; and there they were fed with regular 
rations from the King’s stores, consisting of flour and Irish beef, until the arrival of Gen. 
Wayne with his army, on the 20th of August. In the general action of that day, there were 
two militia companies from Amherstburg and Detroit. The captain of the cutter (who was 
also the clerk of the court at that place) was found among the killed, and one of his privates 
taken prisoner. These unequivocal acts of hostility on the part of Great Britain, did not 
pass unnoticed by our government, and although anxious to avoid a general war, the Presi¬ 
dent determined that the aggression on our territory, by the erection of a fortress so far 
within our acknowledged limits, required some decisive measure. 


* It is proper to state, that Capt. M’Kee asserted that he interfered to save Hartshorn, 
but that he refused quarter and attempted to kill him, (M’Kee,) and would have succeeded, 
if he had not been anticipated by his (M’Kee’s) servant. 





LUCAS COUNTY, 


323 


Authority was therefore given to Gen. Wayne, to dispossess the intruders, if, in his opin¬ 
ion, it was necessary to the success of his operations against the Indians. 

Although the qualification of this order, in its literal sense, might be opposed to its exe¬ 
cution after the entire defeat of the Indians—the daring violation of neutrality which was 
professed, by the supply of food, arms and ammunition to the enemy on the very morning 
of the action, afforded, in the opinion of Gen. Wayne, a sufficient justification for its being 
carried into effect. An accurate examination, however, of the defenses of the fort, made by 
the general at great personal hazard, showed but too clearly that our small howitzers, which 
had been transported on the backs of horses, our only artillery, could make no impression 
upon its massive earthen parapet, while the deep fosse and frasing by which it was sur¬ 
rounded, afforded no prospect of the success of an escalade, but at an expense of valuable 
lives, which the occasion did not seem to call for. 

From my situation as aid-de-camp to the general in chief, I mention these things from 
personal knowledge. If, then, the relation I have given is correct, it must be admitted that 
the war of the revolution continued in the western country until the peace of Greenville, 
in 1795. 

There were some individuals on both sides, who took an active 
part, either in the battle or its connecting events, who demand more 
than a passing notice. Among these, were the faithful spies of 
Wayne, whose exploits M’Donald in his sketches thus describes. 

Gen. Wayne, having a bold, vigilant and dexterous enemy to contend with, found it in¬ 
dispensably necessary to use the utmost caution in his movements to guard against surprise. 
To secure his army against the possibility of being ambuscaded, he employed a number of 
the best woodsmen the frontier afforded to act as spies. Capt. Ephraim Kibby, one of the 
first settlers at Columbia, who had distinguished himself as a bold and intrepid soldier, 
commanded the principal part of this corps. 

A very effective division of the spies was commanded by Capt. William Wells.* At- 


* Wm. Wells, while a child, was captured by the Indians, and became the adopted son of 
Little Turtle, the most eminent forest-warrior and statesman of his time. In the defeats 
of Harmar and St. Clair, he took a distinguished part, commanding in the latter action 300 
young Indian warriors, who were posted immediately in front of the artillery, and caused 
such carnage among those who served it. He arranged his party behind logs and trees, 
immediately under the knoll on which the guns were, and thence, almost uninjured, picked 
off the artillerists, until, it is said, their bodies were heaped up almost to the height of their 
pieces. After this sanguinary affair, his forecast enabled him to anticipate the final ascen¬ 
dancy of the whites, who would be aroused by their reverses to such exertions as must be 
successful with their preponderance of power, and he resolved to abandon the savages. 
His mode of announcing this determination, was in accordance with the simple and sen¬ 
tentious habits of a forest life. He was traversing the woods in the morning, with his 
adopted father, the Little Turtle, when pointing to the heavens, he said, “ when the sun 
reaches the meridian, I leave you for the whites; and whenever you meet me in battle, you 
must kill me as I shall endeavor to do by you.” The bonds of affection and respect which 
had bound these two singular and highly gifted men together, were not severed or weak¬ 
ened by this abrupt dereliction. Capt. Wells soon after joined Wayne’s army, and by his 
intimacy with the wilderness, and his perfect knowledge of the Indian haunts, habits and 
modes of Indian warfare, became an invaluable auxiliary to the Americans. He served 
faithfully and fought bravely through the campaign, and at the close, when peace had re¬ 
stored amity between the Indians and the whites, rejoined his foster-father, the Little 
Turtle ; and their friendship and connexion was broken only by the death of the lat¬ 
ter. When his body was found among the slain at Chicago, in August, 1812, the In¬ 
dians are said to have drank his blood, from a superstitious belief that they should thus im¬ 
bibe his warlike endowments, which had been considered by them as pre-eminent. 

The above paragraph respecting Wells, is copied from the discourse of Henry Whiting, 
Esq., before the Historical Society of Michigan ; that below, relating to his death, is from 
the mss. of Col. John Johnston. 

William Wells, interpreter for the Miamies, and whose wife was of that nation, himself 
uncle to Mrs. Heald, the lady of the commandant at Fort Dearborn, Chicago, went from 
Fort Wayne with a party of 12 or 15 Miamies to that place, with a view of favoring the 
escape of the garrison to Fort Wayne. Nothing could have been more unfortunate than 
this, for Wells was peculiarly obnoxious to the Putawatimies, and especially to the chief. 



324 


LUCAS COUNTY. 


tached to Wells’s command were the following men. Robert M’Clellan, one of the most 
active men on foot that ever lived. Next to him was Henry Miller, who deserves here a 
passing notice. He and a younger brother, named Christopher, had been made captives 
by the Indians while quite young, and adopted into an Indian family. He lived with them 
until about 24 years of age, when, although he had adopted all their customs, he began 
to think of returning to his relatives among the whites. His resolution continually gaining 
strength by reflection, he determined to make the attempt, and endeavored to induce his 
brother to accompany him in his flight, but to no purpose. Christopher was young when 
captured, he was now a good hunter, an expert woodsman and a free and independent In¬ 
dian. Henry Miller, however, escaped through the woods, and arrived safe among his 
friends in Kentucky. Capt. Wells was familiar with Miller during his captivity, and knew 
that he possessed that firm intrepidity which would render him a valuable companion in 
time of need. To these were added, Hickman, May and Thorp, all men of tried worth 
in Indian warfare. 

Capt. Wells and his four companions were confidential and privileged gentleman in 
camp, who were only called upon to do duty upon very particular and interesting occasions. 
They were permitted a carte blanche among the horses of the dragoons, and when on 
duty always went well mounted; while the spies, commanded by Capt. Kibby, went on 
foot, and were kept constantly on the alert, scouring the country in every direction. 

In June, 1794, while the head quarters of the army was at Greenville, Wayne dis¬ 
patched Wells, with his corps, with orders to bring an Indian into the camp as prisoner. 
Accordingly he proceeded cautiously with his party through the Indian country. They 
crossed the St. Mary’s and thence to the Auglaize, without meeting with any straggling party 
of Indians. In passing up the latter, they discovered a smoke, dismounted, tied their 
horses and cautiously reconnoitered. They found three Indians encamped on a high, open 
piece of ground, clear of brush or any undergrowth, rendering it difficult to approach them 
without being discovered. While reconnoitering, they saw not very distant from the 
camp, a fallen tree. They returned and went round, so as to get it between them and the 
Indians. The tree top being full of leaves would serve to screen them from observation. 
They crept forward on their hands and knees with the caution of the cat, until they reached 
it, when they were within 70 or 80 yards of the camp. The Indians were sitting or stand¬ 
ing about the fire, roasting their venison, laughing and making merry antics, little dream¬ 
ing that death was about stealing a march upon them. Arrived at the fallen tree, their 
plans were settled. M’Clellan, who was almost as swift of foot as a deer, was to catch the 
center Indian, while Wells and Miller were to kill the other two, one shooting to the right 
and the other to the left. Resting the muzzles of their rifles on a log of the fallen tree, 
they aimed for the Indians hearts. Whiz went the balls, and both Indians fell. Before 
the smoke had risen two feet, M’Clellan was running with uplifted tomahawk for the re¬ 
maining Indian, who bounded down the river, but finding himself likely to be headed if he 
continued in that direction, he turned and made for the river, which at that place had a 
bluff bank about 20 feet high. On reaching it, he sprang off into the stream and sunk to 


“ the Black Bird,” who was the leading warrior on the occasion. The Putawatimies were 
alone in arms against us. at the time, in that part of the country. The presence of Wells 
was fatal to the safety of the troops ; the chief Blackbird had often spoken to myself in 
very bitter terms against him. On the 14th of August, 1812, a council was held between 
the officers and the chiefs, at which it was agreed, that the whole garrison with their arms, 
ammunition sufficient for the journey and clothing, should retire unmolested to Fort Wayne, 
and that the garrison, with all that it contained, should be delivered up to the Indians. In 
the night preceding the evacuation, all the powder and whiskey in the fort was thrown into 
a canal, communicating from the garrison to the Chicago river. The powder floated 
out and discovered the deception to the Indians; this greatly exasperated them and no 
doubt brought matters to a crisis. On the morning of the 15th of August, the troops 
marched out to commence their journey, and had proceeded but a short distance, when 
they were attacked by the Indians. Wells seeing that all was lost, and not wishing to fall 
into their hands, as he well knew that in that case, a cruel and lingering death awaited 
him, wetted powder and blacked his face, as a token of defiance, mounted his horse and 
commenced addressing the Indians with all the approbrious and insulting language he could 
think of. His purpose evidently was to induce them to dispatch him forthwith. His object 
was accomplished. They beeame so enraged at last with his taunts and jeers, that one of 
them shot him off his horse, and immediately pouncing upon him, cut his body open, took 
out his heart and eat it. The troops were massacred, the commanding officer and wife 
were saved. . . . Chicago means in Putawatimie, “ the place of the pole cat” 



LUCAS COUNTY. 


325 


his middle in the soft mud at its bottom. M’Clellan came after and instantly sprang upon 
him, as he was wallowing and endeavoring to extricate himself from the mire. The In¬ 
dian drew his knife : the other raised his tomahawk and bade him throw down his knife, 
or he would kill him instantly. He did so, and surrendered without farther opposition. 

By this time, Wells and his companion came to the bank, and discovered the two quietly 
sticking in the mud. Their prisoner being secure, they selected a place where the bank 
was less precipitous, went down, dragged the captive out and tied him. He was sulky 
and refused to speak either Indian or English. Some of the party went back for their 
horses, while the others washed the mud and paint from the prisoner. When cleaned, he 
turned out to be a white man, but still refused to speak, or give any account of himself. 
The party scalped the two Indians whom they had shot, and then set off for head quar¬ 
ters. Henry Miller having some suspicions that their prisoner might possibly be his brother 
Christopher, whom he had left with the Indians, years previous, rode up along side of him, 
and called him by his Indian name. At the sound, he started, stared around, and eagerly 
inquired how he came to know his name ? The mystery was soon explained. Their, pris¬ 
oner was indeed Christopher Miller ! A mysterious providence appeared to have placed 
him in a situation in the camp, by which his life was preserved. Had he been standing 
either to the right or to the left, he would inevitably have been killed, and an even chance 
too, if not by his own brother. But that fate which appears to have doomed the Indian 
race to extinction, permitted the white man to live. 

When they arrived at Greenville, their prisoner was placed in the guard house. Wayne 
often interrogated him as to what he knew of the future intentions of the Indians. Capt. 
Wells and his brother Henry, were almost constantly with him, urging him to abandon 
the idea of ever again joining the Indians, and to unite with the whites. For some time 
he was reserved and sulky, but at length became more cheerful, and agreed that if they 
would release him from his confinement, he would remain among them. Capt. Wells and 
Henry Miller urged Wayne to release him, who did so, with the observation, that should 
he deceive them and return to the enemy, they would be one the stronger. He appeared 
pleased with his change of situation, and was mounted on a fine horse, and otherwise 
equipped for war. He joined the company of Wells, and continued through the war a 
brave and intrepid soldier. 

As soon as Wells and his company had rested themselves, they were anxious for another 
bout with the red men. Time without action was irksome to such stirring spirits. Ac¬ 
cordingly in July, they left Greenville, their number strengthened by the addition of Chris¬ 
topher Miller, with orders to bring in prisoners. When on these excursions, they were al¬ 
ways mounted on elegant horses and dressed and painted in Indian style. They arrived 
in the country near the Auglaize, when they met a single Indian, and called upon him to 
surrender. Notwithstanding there were six against him, he refused, levelled his rifle, and 
as they approached him on horseback, fired, missed his mark and then ran. The thick un¬ 
derbrush enabling him to gain upon them, Christopher Miller and M’Clellan dismounted 
and pursued, and the latter soon overtook him. Upon this he turned and made a blow 
at M’Clellan with his rifle, which was parried. As it was M’Clellan’s intention not to kill, 
he kept him at bay until Christopher came up, when they closed in, and made him prisoner 
without receiving injury. They then turned about and arrived with him at Greenville. 
He was reported to be a Pottawatamie chief of scarcely equalled courage and prowess. 
As Christopher Miller had performed his part on this occasion, to the entire satisfaction of 
the brave spirits with whom he acted, he had, as he merited, their entire confidence. 

On one of Captain Wells’s peregrinations through the Indian country, as he came to the 
bank of the St. Mary’s, he discovered a family of Indians coming up the river in a canoe. 
He dismounted from his horse and concealed his men, while he went to the bank of the 
river, in open view, and called to the Indians to come over. As he was dressed in Indian 
costume and spoke in that language, they crossed to him, unsuspicious of danger. The 
moment the canoe struck the shore. Wells heard the nicking of the cocks of his comrades’ 
rifles, as they prepared to shoot the Indians ; but who should be in the canoe but his Indian 
father and mother, with their children ! The others were now coming forward with their 
rifles cocked and ready to pour in a deadly fire upon this family. Wells shouted to them 
to desist, informing them who the Indians were, solemnly declaring that the first man who 
attempted to injure one of them should receive a ball in his head. “ That family,” said he 
to his men, “had fed him when hungry, clothed him when naked, and nursed him when 
sick, and had treated him as affectionately as their own children.” This short speech 
moved the sympathetic hearts of his leather-hunting-shirt comrades, who entered at once 
into his feelings and approved of his lenity. Dropping their tomahawks and rifles, they 
went to the canoe and shook hands with the trembling Indians in the most friendly manner. 


32G 


LUCAS COUNTY. 


Wells assured them they had nothing to fear ; and after talking with them some time, to 
dispel their anxiety, he told them “ that Gen. Wayne was approaching with an overwhelm¬ 
ing force ; that the best thing the Indians could do was to make peace, and that the whites 
did not wish to continue the war. He urged his Indian father to keep for the future out of 
dangerhe then bade them farewell. They appeared grateful for his clemency, pushed 
off their canoe, and paddled with their utmost rapidity down stream. Capt. Wells and his 
comrades, though perfect desperadoes in fight, upon this occasion proved that they largely 
possessed that gratitude and benevolence which does honor to human kind. 

While Wayne’s army lay at the Indian village at the confluence of the Auglaize and 
Maumee, building Fort Defiance, the general, wishing to be informed of the intentions of 
the enemy, dispatched Capt. Wells’s party to bring in another prisoner. They consisted 
of Wells, M’Clellan, the Millers, May and Mahaffy. They proceeded cautiously down the 
Maumee until opposite the site of Fort Meigs, where was an Indian village. This was on 
the 11th of August, nine days before the battle. Wells and his party boldly rode into this 
town, as if they had come from the British fort, and occasionally stopped and talked with 
the Indians in their language. The savages believed them to be Indians from a distance, 
who had come to take a part in the expected battle. After passing through the village, 
they met, some distance from it, an Indian man and woman on horseback, who were re¬ 
turning to town from hunting. They made them captives without resistance, and set off 
for Defiance. 

A little after dark, they came near a large encampment of Indians, merrily amusing them¬ 
selves around their camp fires. Ordering their prisoners to be silent, under pain of instant 
death, they went around the camp until they got about half a mile above it. They then 
held a consultation, tied and gagged their prisoners, and rode into the Indian camp with 
their rifles lying across the pummels of their saddles. They inquired when they had heard 
last of Gen. Wayne and the movements of his army, and how soon and where the expected 
battle would be fought? The Indians standing about Wells and his party were very com¬ 
municative, and answered the questions without any suspicions of deceit in their visitors. 
At length an Indian, who was sitting at some distance, said in an under-tone, in another 
tongue, to some who were near him, that he suspected these strangers had some mischief 
in their heads. Wells overheard it, gave the preconcerted signal, and each fired his rifle 
into the body of an Indian, at not more than six feet distance. The moment the Indian 
had made the remark, he and his companions rose up with their rifles in hand, but not 
before each of the others had shot their man. The moment after Wells and party had 
fired, they put spurs to their horses, lying with their breasts on their animals’ necks, so as to 
lessen the mark to fire at, and before they had got out of the light of the camp fires, the In¬ 
dians had fired upon them. As M’Clellan lay in this position, a ball entered beneath his 
shoulder blade and came out at the top of his shoulder; Wells’s arm was broken by a ball, 
and his rifle dropped to the ground ; May was chased to the smooth rock in the Maumee, 
where, his horse falling, he was taken prisoner. 

The rest of the party escaped without injury and rode full speed to where their prisoners 
were confined, and mounting them upon horses continued their route. Wells and M’Clel¬ 
lan being severely wounded, and their march slow and painful to Defiance, a distance of 
about 30 miles, ere they could receive surgical aid, a messenger was dispatched to hasten to 
that post for a surgeon and a guard. As soon as he arrived with the tidings of the wounds 
and perilous situation of these heroic and faithful spies, very great sympathy was manifested. 
Wayne’s feeling for the suffering soldier was at all times quick and sensitive. We can, 
then, imagine the intensity of his solicitude when informed of the sufferings and perils of 
his confidential and chosen band. He instantly dispatched a surgeon and a company of 
the swiftest dragoons to meet, assist and guard these brave fellows to head-quarters, where 
they arrived safe, and the wounded in due time recovered. 

May, who was taken prisoner, having formerly lived and ran away from the Indians, was 
recognized. They told him, the second day before the battle, “ We know you—you speak 
Indian language—you not content to live with us: to-morrow we take you to that tree— 
pointing to a very large burr oak at the edge of the clearing near the British fort—we will 
tie you up and make a mark on your breast, and we will try what Indian can shoot nearest 
it.” Accordingly, the next day he was tied to that tree, a mark made on his breast, and 
his body riddled with at least fifty bullets. Thus ended poor May! 

This little band of spies, during the campaign, performed more real service than any 
other corps of equal number belonging to the army. They brought in, at different times, 
not less than 20 prisoners, and killed more than an equal number. As they had no rivals 
in the army, they aimed in each excursion to outdo their former exploits. What confidence ! 
what self-possession was displayed by these men in their terrific encounters! To ride 


LUCAS COUNTY. 


327 


boldly into the enemy’s camp, in full view of their blazing camp-fires, and enter into con¬ 
versation with them without betraying the least appearance of trepidation or confusion, and 
openly commence the work of death, proves how well their souls were steeled against fear. 
They had come ofF unscathed in so many desperate conflicts, that they became 3 callous to 
danger. 

In the battle, Wayne’s army took a white man prisoner, by the 
name of Lasselle, Col. John Johnston says respecting him: 

Antoine Lasselle I well knew: this man, a Canadian, was taken prisoner at Wayne’s 
battle, painted, dressed and disguised as an Indian. He was tried by court-martial, at 
Roche de Baeuf, and sentenced to be hung. A gallows was erected and the execution 
ordered, when Col. John F. Hamtranck—a native of Canada, who joined the American 
standard under Montgomery, in the revolutionary war, and was, in 1794, colonel of the 
1st regiment of infantry, under Wayne—interposed and begged the life of the prisoner. 
Gen. Wayne afterwards granted to Lasselle license to trade at Fort Wayne, and he was 
there as such many years during my agency at the post. He was a man of wit and drollery, 
and would often clasp his neck with both hands, to show how near he had been to hanging 
by order of mad Anthony. 

Col. Johnston also says, respecting Col. M’Kee and Capt. Elliott, 
who were both alledged to have been in the action, and were noto¬ 
rious enemies of the Americans in the wars in the northwest: 

M’Kee and Elliott were Pennsylvanians, and the latter, I think, of Irish birth. They 
resided at the commencement of the revolutionary war in Path valley, Pa. A brother and 
a brother-in-law of mine lived in the same neighborhood ; I therefore have undoubted au¬ 
thority for the facts. A number of tories resided in the township, M’Kee and Elliot being 
leaders. A large proportion of the inhabitants being whigs, the place became too warm to 
hold them. They fled to the enemy, and leagued with the Shawanese Indians in com¬ 
mitting depredations on the frontier settlers. Both of these incendiaries had Indian wives 
and children, and finally their influence became so great among the savages, that they 
were appointed agents for Indian affairs by the British government, and continued as such 
until their death. Matthew Elliott was an uncle, by his father’s side, to the late Commodore 
Elliott, and had a son killed in the late war, by the Indians under Logan. [See p. 302.] 
On the death of M’Kee, his son, a half-breed, was a deputy agent in Upper Canada. He 
was a splendid looking man, and married an accomplished white lady. He had too much 
of the Indian nature, and the marriage turned out somewhat unhappily. 

In August, 1814, several letters were published in the National 
Intelligencer, from Col. M’Kee to Col. England, the British com¬ 
mandant at Detroit during the campaign of Wayne, the originals of 
which, the editor stated, were then in his possession. M’Kee was at 
this time superintendent of the Indians under his majesty. Some 
brief extracts below pile up the evidence already adduced of his hos¬ 
tility, and that of the English to the Americans. 

Rapids, July 5th, 1794. Sir, —I send this by a party of Saginas, who returned yester¬ 
day from Fort Recovery, where the whole body of the Indians, except the Delawares, who 
had gone another route, imprudently attacked the fort on Monday, the 30th of last month. 

.Every thing had been settled prior to their leaving the fallen timber, and it had been 

agreed upon to confine themselves to taking convoys and attacking at a distance from the 
forts, if they should have the address to entice the enemy out. 

Rapids, Aug. 13 th, 1794. Sir, —I was honored last night with your letter of the 11th, 
and am extremely glad to find you making such exertions to supply the Indians with 

provisions .Scouts are sent up to view the situation of the army, [Wayne’s,] and WE now 

muster 1000 Indians. All the lake Indians, from Sagina downwards, should not lose one 
moment in joining their brethren, as every accession of strength is an addition to their 
spirits. 

Maumee city, the county seat, is 124 miles nw. of Columbus, and 
8 s. of Toledo. It was laid out under the name of Maumee in 1817, 
by Maj. Wm. Oliver and others, within what had been the reservation 





328 


LUCAS COUNTY. 


of 12 miles square, at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee, granted 
to the Indians at the treaty of Greenville, in 1795. The town is 
situated at the head of navigation on the Maumee, and on the Wa¬ 
bash and Erie canal, opposite Perrysburg and Fort Meigs. 



Maumee City, from Fort Meigs. 


The river banks upon which Maumee city and its neighbor, 
Perrysburg stand, are elevated near 100 feet above the water level. 
Both banks, at this point, curve gracefully inward, while the river 
above and below is somewhat contracted, thus forming a vast amphi¬ 
theatre of about two miles in length and nearly one in breadth, while 
a beautiful cultivated island of 200 acres, and several small islets 
embosomed in its centre, enhance a scene rich in picturesque effect. 

From a very early day, this was a favorite point with the Indians. 
As early as 1680, the French had a trading station just below the 
town, where, later in the spring of 1794, was built the British fort 
Miami, the ruins of which are still conspicuous. Part of Wayne’s 
battle was within the limits of the town—the action commenced two 
or three miles south. At that point, by the road side, is a noted 
rock, of several tons weight, near the foot of Presque Isle hill, where 
it is said an Indian chief, named Turkey Foot, rallied a few of his 
men and stood upon it fighting until his strength becoming exhausted 
from loss of blood, he fell and breathed his last. Upon it have been 
carved by the Indians, representations of turkey’s feet, now plainly 
to be seen, and it is said “ the early settlers of and travellers through 
the Maumee valley, usually found many small pieces of tobacco de¬ 
posited on this rock, which had been placed there by the Indians as 
devotional acts, by way of sacrifice, to appease the indignant spirit 
of the departed hero.” During the siege of Fort Meigs, in the late 
war, the British encamped below the town, and erected several 
batteries within it, which played upon the American fort. These 





























LUCAS COUNTY. 


329 


having been stormed and taken by Col. Dudley, on the 5th of May, 
1813, that officer pushed his victory too far, and was, in turn, attacked 
by the enemy, who had been reinforced from below, and defeated 
with great slaughter on the site of the town. (See Wood county.) 

The view of Maumee city, taken from the site of Fort Meigs, 
shows, in front, Maumee river and the bridge; beyond, on the left, 
the canal, and on the summit of the hill, a small portion of the town, 
which is much scattered. On the right is seen the Presbyterian 
church, on the left, the Methodist, and between, the Catholic; the 
Episcopal church does not appear in this view. Maumee city is a 
thriving town, and has an extensive water power, which, if fully 
improved, would be sufficient for 250 runs of stone: it now contains 
16 dry goods, 8 grocery and 3 drug stores ; 1 or 2 newspaper print¬ 
ing offices,4 flouring, 1 oil and 2 saw mills; 1 pail factory, 1 tannery, 
a wool-carding and cloth-dressing establishment, and had in 1840, 
840 inhabitants, since which it has much increased. A number of 
vessels, steamboats, propellers and canal boats have been built here. 
A spirit of rivalry exists between the towns at the foot of the rapids, 
Maumee city and Perrysburg, with Toledo. While the latter has 
outstripped them in prosperity, there is, perhaps, but little question 
that if the navigation of the river was improved, Maumee city and 
Perrysburg would draw to themselves a vast accession of business, 
and be important points for the shipment and transhipment of freight. 
The Maumee is navigable, in its present condition, for steamboats 
and schooners drawing seven feet of water; but, since the construc¬ 
tion of boats of a heavier draught, it is necessary that an improve¬ 
ment, by excavating the channel along what is called “ the rock bar” 
should be made. This bar, which is of blue limestone, commences 
about a mile and a half below Perrysburg. At a common stage, 
the water upon it is about six and half feet deep. To open a clear 
and unobstructed channel upon it for the largest lake boats, it has 
been estimated, would cost about $30,000. Government has fre¬ 
quently, but ineffectually, been petitioned to make this improvement. 

Toledo is on the left bank of the Maumee river, and on the 
Wabash and Erie canal, 134 miles nw. of Columbus, 246 by canal 
n. of Cincinnati, about 50 s. of Detroit, about 100 w. of Cleveland, 
and 33 miles from Adrian, Michigan, where a railroad from Toledo 
intersects with the southern Michigan railroad. Toledo stretches 
along the river bank for more than a mile, and has two points at 
which business concentrates, called respectively the upper and lower 
landing. It was originally two distinct settlements—the upper, Port 
Lawrence, the lower, Vistula. Between these two points Toledo is 
thinly settled ; but at them, and particularly at the upper, the stores, 
warehouses and dwellings are densely packed together. The view 
of the harbor from the upper landing is very fine : the eye takes in 
a distance of several miles of the river, bounded by well-defined pro¬ 
jecting headlands, and often showing a large number of sails, pre¬ 
senting not only a scene of beauty, but evidence of the extensive 
commerce, of which this place is the center. 

42 


330 


LUCAS COUNTY. 


Toledo covers the site of a stockade fort, called Fort Industry, 
erected about the year 1800, near what is now Summit street. A 
treaty was held in this fort with the Indians July 4th, 1805, by which 
the Indian title to the “ fire-lands” was extinguished. Chas. Jouett 
was United States commissioner, and the Ottawa, Chippewa, Pot- 
tawatimie, Wyandot, Shawanee, Munsee and Delaware tribes, re¬ 
presented by their respective chiefs. The insignificant settlements 
of Port Lawrence and Vistula were later formed, and have now lost 
their identity in Toledo, the history, present condition and prospects 
of which we annex, in a communication from a gentleman of the 
place. 

In the summer of 1832, Vistula, under the impetus given it by Captain Samuel Allen, 
from Lockport, N. Y., and Major Stickney, made quite a noise as a promising place for a 
town. People from various quarters were met by the writer, in June of that year, at the 
residence of Major Stickney. All seemed sanguine of a sudden and large growth for the 
new town, and many made purchases in and about it. At the same time, arrangements 
were being made by Major Oliver and Micajah T. Williams, of Cincinnati, with Daniel 
O. Comstock and Stephen B. Comstock, brothers, from Lockport, for the resuscitation of 
Port Lawrence, at the mouth of Swan creek. The Comstocks took an interest, and be¬ 
came the agents for the Port Lawrence property, now known as Upper Toledo. No sales 
of any importance were made before 1833. In Vistula, the first store was started by Mr. 
E. Briggs; W. J. Daniels, now a leading man, was his clerk. Soon after, Flagg & Bissell 
opened a more extensive store of goods—probably the first good assortment for the use of 
white people. In 1833, not much progress was made towards building a town in Vistula 
or Port Lawrence. In the latter, the first Toledo steamer was built, and called the Detroit. 
She was of 120 tons, and commanded by Captain Baldwin, son of a sea captain of that 
name, who was one of the earliest settlers of Port Lawrence. The best lots in Port Law¬ 
rence, 60 feet front by 120 deep, were offered by Stephen B. Comstock, for $50, coupled 
with a condition to make some little improvements. Four of these lots, if they were now 
not built upon, would sell for $5,000 each. Three of them are nearly covered by 3 story 
brick buildings, and form the center of business of Toledo. They are corners, on Monroe 
and Summit streets. 

In 1834, speculation in lots began, and with slight intermission continued until the spring 
of 1837. Mr. Edward Bissell, from Lockport, a man of enterprise and activity, became 
a part owner, and gave a great impetus to the growth of Vistula. Through him and the 
Port Lawrence owners, many men of influence became interested in the new towns. 
Among these, Judge Mason, from Livingston county, N. Y., deserves mention, as he be¬ 
came agent of Bissell and the other chief owners, and made Vistula his residence. 

In 1836, the Wabash and Erie canal was located, having three terminations, one at 
Maumee, one at Toledo, and one at Manhattan. Great exertions were made to induce the 
commissioners to terminate it at the foot of the Rapids; and also to have it continued be¬ 
low, on the high bank. All the points were accommodated, and the state has had a heavy 
bill to foot as the consequence. In 1837, the canal was let, and the contractors entered 
vigorously on its construction. The commissioners held out the opinion, that it would be 
completed in two years. Under the expectation of its early completion, many of the in¬ 
habitants of Toledo, who had been brought there by the speculations of 1835 and 1836, and 
the business it gave, held on in order to participate in the business it was expected to furnish. 
The seasons of 1838 and 1839 were uncommonly sickly, not only at Toledo, but along the 
entire line of the canal. This kept back the -work on the canal, and it was not com¬ 
pleted, so as to make its business sensiby felt, before the season of 1845. The Miami and 
Erie canal was opened through, from river to lake, the same season, and for a time had a 
great rush of business through it. But it was so imperfect, that great prejudice was excited 
against it as a channel of commerce. During the season of 1846, it was kept in good 
order, and recovered a portion of its lost popularity. 

The productions of the south and southwest, that reached Toledo by these two canals, 
during the season of 1846, exceeded three millions of dollars in value, and more than 
doubled the receipts of the preceding year. The value sent up from Toledo can scarcely 
have been less than five million dollars. The aggregate of breadstuff's exported, exceeded 
three millions of bushels, being greater than any other port around the lakes, except Cleve¬ 
land, that shipped by lake. It is expected that the business of these canals this year, will 


LUCA3 COUNTY. 


831 


nearly double that of the season of 1846. The Wabash and Erie canal will then be ex¬ 
tended 49 miles further down the Wabash; and the country on the lines of both canals 
being new, is being opened to cultivation, and having the roads that bring trade to the 
canals every year extended farther from their borders, and made better. By position and 
the aid of these canals, Toledo is evidently destined to be one of the greatest of the gath¬ 
ering points of agricultural productions in the country. Its situation is equally favorable 
for the distribution, over the lakes, of southern productions—sugar, tobacco, &c. The 
Miami and Erie canal is the best channel for the goods destined from the eastern cities to 
the great river valley below Cincinnati. 

The Wabash and Erie canal, when completed to Evansville, on the Ohio, will be 460 
miles in length, and control most of the external trade of Indiana and eastern Illinois. 
The Miami and Erie canal, connecting Toledo and Cincinnati, is 247 miles long. This, 
it is believed, will one day become one of the most important canals in the world. 

Within the last two years, Toledo has expended near one hundred thousand dollars in 
grading and other permanent improvements that tend to give facility to commercial opera¬ 
tions. Like all the other towns on Lake Erie, it has suffered, during the early years of its 
life, from sickness ; and perhaps it has suffered still more, in its growth and prospects, from 
the exaggerations which public rumor has spread over the country, respecting its insalubrity. 
And yet it woald be difficult to find a healthier looking or a more vigorous set of men, than 
are the first settlers of Toledo and other places on the harbor. Toledo has had sickness, 
but not more than Cleveland and Sandusky and Monroe, at the same period of their growth. 
The excavations for the canal and the grades, have undoubtedly contributed to the preva¬ 
lence of intermittents, which is the chief cause of complaint. Every year will witness an 
improvement in this respect, until, like Cleveland, it will be forgotten as a place especially 
fruitful of malaria, and be spoken of chiefly for the activity and extent of its commerce, and 
the rapidity of its progress towards the high destiny which reflecting men have long antici¬ 
pated for it. 

Toledo was incorporated as a city in 1836, and has 1 Presbyte¬ 
rian, 1 Catholic, 1 Methodist, 1 Episcopal and 1 Lutheran church, 
37 mercantile establishments—including 3 drug and 2 book stores 
—9 forwarding and commission houses, 2 banks, and its population 
is estimated at 2400; in 1840, it had 1322 inhabitants. A daily 
steamboat line connects Toledo with Buffalo, and another with De¬ 
troit. A railroad has been chartered and surveyed between Toledo 
and the west line of Indiana, in the direction of the falls of Illinois, 
or towards Chicago. 

Toledo was the center of the military operations in “ the Ohio 
and Michigan war,” so called, which at the time threatened serious 
results, but was accompanied with so much of the ludicrous, as to 
be usually adverted to with emotions of merriment. In the language 
of “ an actor in the scenes which he depicts,” the narration below is 
given. 

The dispute of Ohio and Michigan, about the line of division between them, originated 
in this wise. The ordinance of 1787, provided for the division of the North Western 
territory into not less than three nor more than five states; and if into five, then the three 
southern were to be divided from the two northern, by a line drawn east and west through 
the southern point of Lake Michigan, extending eastward to the territorial line in Lake 
Erie. The constitution of Ohio contained a provision, that if the said line should not go 
so far north as the north cape of the Maumee bay, then the northern boundary of Ohio 
should be a line drawn from the southerly part of Lake Michigan to the north cape of the 
Maumee bay. With this constitution, Ohio was admitted into the union. The line of the 
ordinance was an impossible line, inasmuch as it would never touch the territorial line by 
extending it eastward, bat would, on the contrary, leave north of it a considerable portion 
of that part of Ohio known as the Western Reserve. 

When Michigan became a territory, the people living between the two lines—that 
claimed by Michigan, known as the Fulton line, and that claimed by Ohio, as the Harris 

line_found it more convenient to be attached to Michigan, and agreeably to their wish, 

the territorial laws were extended over the disputed territory. In 1833, it appeared im- 


332 


LUCAS COUNTY. 


portant that the boundary should be settled, and at the suggestion of J. W. Scott, Esq., of 
Toledo, Senator Tilden, of Norwalk, Ohio, brought the matter before the legislature, which 
passed a resolution asking congress to act upon the subject, for the purpose of quieting the 
claim of Ohio. 

In 1835, the matter came before congress, and J. Q. Adams made an elaborate report 
against the claim of Ohio. Through the exertions of A. Palmer, S. B. Comstock, W. P. 
Daniels and others, the former was immediately dispatched to Columbus, with a petition 
from most of the inhabitants, to the legislature of Ohio, then in session, asking the exten¬ 
sion of the laws of Ohio over the disputed territory. An act was soon after passed for 
that purpose, and the disputed territory was attached to the counties of Wood, Henry and 
Williams. This occasioned a counteraction on the part of Michigan. A double set of 
officers were created at the spring election, and war became inevitable. The inhabitants 
were mostly for the Ohio claim, but enough sided with Michigan to fill all the offices. 
These soon needed the aid of their neighbors of Monroe county, who were organized, and 
made some inroads under the sheriff’s posse, and carried off to Monroe, some of the would- 
be citizens of Ohio. 

Thereupon, Ohio levied troops, and Governor Lucas came on at their head, early in the 
spring of 1835. In the mean time. Governor Mason mustered troops from Michigan ; and 
while Governor Lucas was encamped at old Fort Miami, 8 miles above Toledo and 4 
miles above the disputed territory, Mason marched into Toledo, overrun all the water-melon 
patches, made fowls very scarce, and demolished utterly the ice house of Major Stickney, 
burst in the front door of his residence, and triumphantly carried him off a prisoner of war 
to Monroe.* 

About this time appeared from the court of Washington, two ambassadors, with full 
powers to negotiate with the belligerants, for an amicable settlement of difficulties. These 
were Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, and Colonel Howard, of Maryland. They were 
successful in their mission, chiefly because Michigan was satisfied w'ith the laurels won, 
and Ohio was willing to stand on her dignity—8 miles from the ground in dispute. At 
the court next holden in Wood county, the prosecuting attorney presented bills of indict¬ 
ment against Governor Mason and divers others, In like manner offending ; but the bills 
were thrown out by the grand jury. Thus was Ohio defeated in her resort to law, as she 
had before been in her passage at arms. At the next session of congress, the matter was 
taken up, and able arguments in favor of Ohio were made in the house, by Samuel F. 
Vinton, and in the senate, by Thomas Ewing. Here Ohio carried the day. Michigan, 
instead of the narrow strip, averaging about 8 miles wide, on her southern border, received 
as an equivalent the large peninsula between Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior, now 
so well known for its rich deposit of copper and other minerals. The chief value to Ohio, 
of the territory in dispute, was the harbor at Toledo, formed by the mouth of the Maumee, 
essential, as her public men believed, to enable her to reap the benefit of the commerce 
made by her canals to Cincinnati and Indiana. The result has shown that they judged 
correctly. Toledo has proved to be the true point for the meeting of lake and canal com¬ 
merce. 

Manhattan, 3 miles below Toledo, was laid out a few years since, 
and much enterprise exhibited on the part of its founders : it is, how¬ 
ever, a small place, containing in 1840, 282 inhabitants. Waterville, 
about 5 miles above Maumee City, is a neat village, containing about 
300 inhabitants. Providence, near the line of Henry county, on 
the river, had in 1840, 130 inhabitants; in 1846, it was seriously in¬ 
jured by fire. There are other small towns in the county, but none 
of note. 


* Many amusing incidents are related of the actors in this war. Dr. Russ, of New 
York, was with the forces of Mason, on their march from Monroe to Toledo, and gave to 
the writer a vivid description of the mixture of frolic and fear among the new soldiers. 
Reports were constantly being circulated of the great number of sharp-shooting Buck¬ 
eyes who were ready, with poised rifles, to greet their arrival at Toledo ; and so terror- 
stricken were the warriors by these stories of the wags, that nearly half of those who 
marched boldly from Monroe, availed themselves of the bushes, by the road-side, to with¬ 
draw from the dangerous enterprise. 



PUBLIC SQUARE, NEWARK 



















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































MADISON COUNTY, 


333 


MADISON. 


Madison was organized in March, 1810, and named from James 
Madison, the fourth President of the U. States. The soil is clayey, 
and the surface level. Almost one-third of the surface is prairie 
land. Wool-growing has become an object of considerable business. 
It is principally a stock-raising county. The productions are grass, 
corn and oats, and beef cattle. Wool and pork are the principal 
staples. The following is a list of the townships in 1840, with their 
population. 

Canaan, 607 Monroe, 385 Range, 820 

Darby, 466 Pike, 529 Somerford, 761 

Deer Creek, 545 Pleasant, 936 Stokes, 770 

Fairfield, 505 

The population of Madison, in 1820, was 4799; in 1830, 6191 ; 
and in 1840, 9025, or 20 inhabitants to the square mile. 

In the course of this work, we have made several extracts from the 
mss. of Jonathan Alder, who was taken captive when a boy, and 
passed many years among the Indians. These mss. contain about 
a hundred pages, and comprise a sketch of his life while with 
the Indians, together with a relation of many of their customs, and 
incidents that came under his observation. Mr. Alder is now living 
on Darby creek, in this county. We give a sketch of him, derived 
from the above-mentioned source. 


Jonathan Alder was born in New Jersey, about 8 miles from Philadelphia, Sept 17th, 
1773. When at about the age of seven years, his parents removed to Wythe county, Va., 
and his father soon after died. 

In the succeeding March, (1782,) while out with his brother David, hunting for a mare and 
her colt, he was taken prisoner by a small party of Indians. His brother, on the first alarm, 
ran, and was pursued by some of the party. “ At length,” says Alder, “ I saw them return¬ 
ing, leading my brother, while one was holding the handle of a spear, that he had thrown 
at him and run into his body. As they approached, one of them stepped up and grasped 
him around the body, while another pulled out the spear. I observed some flesh on the end 
of it, which looked white, which I supposed came from his entrails. I moved to him, and 
inquired if he was hurt, and he replied that he was. These were the last words that passed 
between us. At that moment he turned pale and began to sink, and I was hurried on, and 
shortly after saw one of the barbarous wretches coming up with the scalp of my brother in 
his hand, shaking off the blood.” 

The Indians having also taken prisoner a Mrs. Martin, a neighbor to the Alders, with 
her young child, aged about four or five years, retreated towards their towns. Their route 
lay through the woods to the Big Sandy, down that stream to the Ohio, which they crossed, 
and from thence went overland to the Scioto, near Chillicothe, and so on to a Mingo village 
on Mad river. 

Finding the child of Mrs. Martin burdensome, they soon killed and scalped it. The last 
member of her family was now destroyed, and she screamed in agony of grief. Upon this, 
one of the Indians caught her by her hair, and drawing the edge of his knife across her 
forehead, cried “ sculp ! sculp!” with the hope of stilling her cries. But, indifferent to life, 
she continued her screams, when they procured some switches, and whipped her until she 
was silent. The next day, young Alder having not risen, through fatigue, from eating, at 
the moment the word was given, saw, as his face was to the north, the shadow of a man’s 
arm with an uplifted tomahawk. He turned, and there stood an Indian, ready for the fatal 
blow. Upon this he let down his arm, and commenced feeling of his head. He afterwards 
told Alder it had been his intention to have killed him ; but as he turned he looked so smil¬ 
ing and pleasant, that he could not strike, and on feeling of his head and noticing that his 


334 


MADISON COUNTY. 


hair was very black, the thought struck him, that if he could only get him to his tribe he 
would make a good Indian ; but that all that saved his life was the color of his hair. 

After they crossed the Ohio, they killed a bear, and remained four days to dry the meat 
for packing, and to fry out the oil, which last they put in the intestines, having first turned 
and cleaned them. 

The village to which Alder was taken, belonged to the Mingo tribe, and was on the north 
side of Mad river, which we should judge was somewhere within or near the limits of what 
is now Logan county. As he entered, he was obliged to run the gauntlet, formed by young 
children armed with switches. He passed through this ordeal with little or no injury, and was 
adopted into an Indian family. His Indian mother thoroughly washed him with soap and 
warm water with herbs in it, previous to dressing him in the Indian costume, consisting of 
a calico shirt, breech clout, leggins and moccasons. The family having thus converted him 
into an Indian, were much pleased with their new member. But Jonathan was at first very 
home, ick, thinking of his mother and brothers. Every thing was strange about him ; he 
was unable to speak a word of their language ; their food disagreed with him ; and, child¬ 
like, he used to go out daily for more than a month, and sit under a large walnut tree near 
the village, and cry for hours at a time over his deplorable situation. His Indian father was 
a chief of the Mingo tribe, named Succohanos ; his Indian mother was named Whinecheoh, 
and their daughters respectively answered to the good old English names of Mary, Hannah 
and Sally. Succohanos and Whinecheoh were old people, and had lost a son, in whose 
place they had adopted Jonathan. They took pity on the little fellow, and did their best to 
comfort him, telling him that he would one day be restored to his mother and brothers. He 
says of them, “ they could not have used their own son better, for which they shall always 
be held in most grateful remembrance by me.” His Indian sister Sally, however, treated 
him “ like a slave,” and when out of humor, applied to him, in the Indian tongue, the un¬ 
lady-like epithet of “ onorary, [mean,] lousy prisoner!” Jonathan for a time lived with Mary, 
who had become the wife of the chief, Col. Lewis, (see p. 304.) “ In the fall of the year,” says 
he, “ the Indians would generally collect at our camp, evenings, to talk over their hunting 
expeditions. I would sit up to listen to their stories, and frequently fell asleep just where I 
was sitting. After they left, Mary would fix my bed, and with Col. Lewis, would carefully 
take me up and carry me to it. On these occasions they would often say—supposing me to 
be asleep—‘ poor fellow! we have sat up too long for him, and he has fallen asleep on the 
cold ground and then how softly would they lay me down and cover me up. Oh! never 
have I, nor can I, express the affection I had for these two persons.” 

Jonathan, with other boys, went into Mad river to bathe, and on one occasion came near 
drowning. He was taken out senseless, and some time elapsed ere he recovered. He says, 
“ I remember, after I got over my strangle, I became very sleepy, and thought I could draw 
iny breath as well as ever. Being overcome with drowsiness, I laid down to sleep, which 
was the last I remember. The act of drowning is nothing, but the coming to life is dis¬ 
tressing. The boys, after they had brought me too, gave me a silver buckle, as an induce¬ 
ment not to tell the old folks of the occurrence, for fear they would not let me come with 
them again ; and so the affair was kept secret.” 

When Alder had learned to speak the Indian language, he became more contented. He 
says, “ 1 would have lived very happy, if I could have had health ; but for three or four 
years I was subject to very severe attacks of fever and ague. Their diet went very hard 
with me for a long time. Their chief living was meat and hommony; but we rarely had 
bread, and very little salt, which was extremely scarce and dear, as well as milk and butter. 
Honey and sugar were plentiful, and used a great deal in their cooking, as well as on their 
food.” 

When he was old enough, he was given an old English musket, and told that he must go 
out and learn to hunt. So he used to follow along the water courses, where mud turtles 
were plenty, and commenced his first essay upon them. He generally aimed under them, 
as they lay basking on the rocks ; and when he struck the stone, they flew sometimes seve¬ 
ral feet in the air, which afforded great sport for the youthful marksman. Occasionally he 
killed a wild turkey, ora raccoon ; and when he returned to the village with his game, gen¬ 
erally received high praise for his skill—the Indians telling him he would make “ a great 
hunter one of these days.” 

We cannot, within our assigned limits, give many of the incidents 
and anecdotes related by Alder, or any thing like a connected his¬ 
tory of his life among the Indians. In the June after he was taken, 
occurred Crawford’s defeat. He describes the anxiety of the squaws 
while the men were gone to the battle, and their joy on their return- 


MADISON COUNTY. 


335 


ing with scalps and other trophies of the victory. He defends Simon 
Girty from the charge of being the instigator of the burning of 
Crawford, and states that he could not have saved his life, because 
he had no influence in the Delaware tribe, whose prisoner Crawford 
was. Alder was dwelling at the Mackachack towns (see p. 299 ) when 
they were destroyed by Logan, in 1786 ; was in the attack on Fort 
Recovery, in 1794 , (see p. 140 ,) and went on an expedition into 
“ Kaintucky to steal horses” from the settlers. 

Alder remained with the Indians until after Wayne’s treaty, in 1795. He was urged by 
them to be present on the occasion, to obtain a reservation of land, which was to be given 
to each of the prisoners; but, ignorant of its importance, he neglected going, and lost the 
land. Peace having been restored, Alder says, “ I could now lie down without fear, and 
rise up and shake hands with both the Indian and the white man.” 

The summer after the treaty, while living on Big Darby, Lucas Sullivant (see p. 168) 
made his appearance in that region, surveying land, and soon became on terms of intimacy 
with Alder, who related to him a history of his life, and generously gave him the piece of 
land on which he dwelt; but there being some little difficulty about the title, Alder did not 
contest, and so lost it. 

When the settlers first made their appearance on Darby, Alder could scarcely speak a 
word of English. He was then about 24 years of age, 15 of which had been passed with the 
Indians. Two of the settlers kindly taught him to converse in English. He had taken up 
with a squaw for a wife some time previous, and now began to farm like the whites. He 
kept hogs, cows and horses, sold milk and butter to the Indians, horses and pork to the 
whites, and accumulated property. He soon was able to hire white laborers, and being 
dissatisfied with his squaw—a cross, peevish woman—wished to put her aside, get a wife 
from among the settlers, and live like them. Thoughts too, of his mother and brothers, be¬ 
gan to obtrude, and the more he reflected, his desire strengthened to know if they were 
living, and to see them once more. He made inquiries for them, but was at a loss to know 
how to begin, being ignorant of the name of even the state in which they were. When 
talking one day with John Moore, a companion of his, the latter questioned him where he 
was from. Alder replied that he was taken prisoner somewhere near a place called Green- 
briar, and that his people lived by a lead mine, to which he used frequently to go to see the 
hands dig ore. Moore then asked him if he could recollect the names of any of his neigh¬ 
bors. After a little reflection, he replied, “ Yes! a family of Gulions that lived close by 
us.” Upon this, Moore dropped his head, as if lost in thought, and muttered to himself, 
“ Gulion ! Gulion !” and then raising up, replied, “ My father and myself were out in that 
country, and we stopped at their house over one night, and if your people are living, I can 
find them.” 

Mr. Moore after this went to Wythe county, and inquired for the family of Alder; but 
without success, as they had removed from their former residence. He put up advertise¬ 
ments in various places, stating the facts, and where Alder was to be found, and then re¬ 
turned. Alder now abandoned all hopes of finding his family, supposing them to be dead. 
Some time after, he and Moore were at Franklinton, when he was informed there was a 
letter for him in the post office. It was from his brother Paul, stating that one of the adver¬ 
tisements was put up within six miles of him, and that he got it the next day. It contained 
the joyful news, that his mother and brothers were alive. 

Alder, in making preparations to start for Virginia, agreed to separate from his Indian 
wife, divide the property equally, and take and leave her with her own people at Sandusky. 
But some difficulty occurred in satisfying her. He gave her all the cows, 14 in number, 
worth $20 each, 7 horses, and much other property, reserving to himself only 2 horses and 
the swine. Besides these, was a small box, about 6 inches long, 4 wide and 4 deep, filled 
with silver, amounting probably to about $200, which he intended to take, to make an equal 
division. But to this she objected, saying the box was hers before marriage, and she would 
not only have it, but all it contained. Alder says, “ I saw I could not get it without making 
a fuss, and probably having a fight, and told her that if she would promise never to trouble 
nor come back to me, she might have it; to which she agreed.” 

Moore accompanied him to his brother’s house, as he was unaccustomed to travel among 
the whites. They arrived there on horseback, at noon, the Sunday after new years. They 
walked up to the house and requested to have their horses fed, and pretending they were 
entire strangers, inquired who lived there. “ I had concluded,” says Alder, “ not to make 
myself known for some time, and eyed my brother very close, but did not recollect his fea- 


336 


MADISON COUNTY. 


tures. I had always thought I should have recognized my mother, by a mole on her face. 
In the corner sat an old lady, who I supposed was her, although I could not tell; for when I 
was taken by the Indians her head was as black as a crow, and now it was almost perfectly 
white. Two young women were present, who eyed me very close, and I heard one of them 
whisper to the other, “ he looks very much like Mark,” (my brother.) I saw they were 
about to discover me, and accordingly turned my chair around to my brother, and said, 
“ You say your name is Aider!” “ Yes,” he replied, “ my name is Paul Alder.” “ Well,” 
I rejoined, “ my name is Alder too.” Now it is hardly necessary to describe our feelings at 
that time ; but they were very different from those I had when I was taken prisoner, and 
saw the Indian coming with my brother’s scalp in his hand, shaking off the blood. 

“ When I told my brother that my name was Alder, he rose to shake hands with me, so 
overjoyed that he could scarcely utter a word, and my old mother ran, threw her arms 
around me, while tears rolled down her cheeks. The first words she spoke, after she grasped 
me in her arms, were, “ How you have grown!” and then she told me of a dream she had. 
Says she, “ I dreamed that you had come to see me, and that you was a little onorary [mean] 
looking fellow, and I would not own you for my son ; but now I find I was mistaken, that 
it is entirely the reverse, and I am proud to own you for my son.” I told her I could remind 
her of a few circumstances that she would recollect, that took place before I was made cap¬ 
tive. I then related various things, among which was that the negroes, on passing our 
house on Saturday evenings, to spend Sundays with their wives, would beg pumpkins of 
her, and get her to roast them for them against their return on Monday morning. She re¬ 
collected these circumstances, and said she had now no doubt of my being her son. We passed 
the balance of the day in agreeable conversation, and I related to them the history of my 
captivity, my fears and doubts, of my grief and misery the first year after I was taken. My 
brothers at this time were all married, and Mark and John had moved from there. They 
were sent for, and came to see me ; but my half brother John had moved so far, that I never 
got to see him at all.” 

This county was first settled by the "whites in 1796. In the fall 
of 1795, Benjamin Springer came from Kentucky, selected some 
land about a mile north of Amity, on the west bank of Big Darby, 
which stream was named by the Indians, from a Wyandot chief 
named Darby, who for a long time resided upon it, near the line of 
this and Union counties. Springer having made a clearing and built 
a cabin, moved his family to the place in the spring of 1796. The 
next year, William Lapin, Joshua and James Ewing settled in the 
same neighborhood. The last named is now living. 

Springer settled near Alder, and taught him the English language, 
which much endeared the latter to him. He reciprocated this benefit, 
by not only supplying him with meat, but others of the early settlers, 
who, had it not been for him, would have been in danger of starva¬ 
tion. He also, on different occasions, saved some of the settlers from 
being killed by the Indians. 

In 1800, Mr. Joshua Ewing brought four sheep to his place, which 
were strange animals to the Indians. One day an Indian was pass¬ 
ing by, when the dog of the latter caught one of the sheep, and Ewing 
shot him. The Indian would have shot Ewing in retaliation, had 
not Alder, who was present, with much difficulty prevailed upon him 
to refrain. 

On the outbreak of hostilities, in 1812, the Indian chiefs held a 
council, and sent a deputation tp Alder, to learn which side to es¬ 
pouse, saying that the British wished them to go and fight for them, 
holding out the promise that in such case they would support their 
families. He advised them to remain at first neutral, and told them 
they need not be afraid of the Americans harming their women and 


MAHONING COUNTY. 


337 


children. They followed the advice, for a while remained neutral, 
and eventually became warm friends of the Americans. 

Deer Creek, in this county, was so called by the Indians, because 
of the many deer that used to frequent it to eat the moss that grew 
plentifully upon its banks. It was considered by the Indians the best 
hunting ground for deer in this whole region of country. 

The.first court in this county was held in a cabin, Judge Thomp¬ 
son, of Chillicothe, presiding. The grand jury retired to deliberate 
to an oak and hazle thicket that stood near. The principal business, 
for the first year or two, was to try men for fighting. 



View in London. 


London, the county seat, is 25 miles westerly from Columbus. It 
was laid off in 1810 or ’ll, as seat of justice, by Patrick M’Lene, 
by order of the commissioners; and by the autumn of 1812 had six 
or eight families. The view shows on the left the court house, and 
in the distance the academy. London contains 1 Presbyterian and 
1 Methodist church, a classical academy, 1 newspaper printing office, 
8 stores, and about 400 inhabitants. By the census of 1840, its pop¬ 
ulation was 297. 

West Jefferson, on the national road, 14 miles w. of Columbus, 
and 10 from London, has a Baptist church, an academy, 3 stores, and 
about 45 dwellings. At an early day, a fort or block house was 
built on the east bank of the Little Darby, about 20 rods south of 
where the national road crosses the creek, near the village. 

Lafayette, 7 miles w. of Jefferson, on the national road, has about 
30 dwellings. Mount Sterling, Midway, Solon and Summerford, 
are small places. 


MAHONING. 

Mahoning was formed from Trumbull and Columbiana, March 
1st, 1846. It derived its name from Mahoning river. The name 
Mahoning is, according to Heckwelder, derived from either the In¬ 
dian word Mahoniy signifying “ a lick,” or Mahonink , “ at the lick.’* 

43 

















338 


MAHONING COUNTY. 


The surface is rolling and the soil finely adapted to wheat and corn. 
Large quantities of the finer qualities of wool are raised. The val¬ 
ley of the Mahoning abounds in excellent bituminous coal, which 
is well adapted to the smelting of iron ore. Excellent iron ore is 
obtained in the Mahoning valley, and it is believed to be abundant. 
There are fifteen townships in the county ; the five southernmost, viz : 
Smith, Goshen, Greene, Beaver and Springfield, originally formed 
part of Columbiana, and the others, the southern part of Trumbull, 
the last of which are within the Western Reserve. The following 
is a list of the townships, with their population, in 1840. 


Austintown, 1245 
Beaver, 1973 

Berlin, 1284 

Boardman, 933 

Canfield, 1280 


Milton, 1277 

Poland, 1561 

Smith, 2029 

Springfield, 1994 
Youngstown, 999 


Coitsville, 1016 

Ellsworth, 988 

Goshen, 1397 

Green, 3212 

Jackson, 1124 

Total population in 1840* within the present limits of Mahoning, 
21,712, or 51 inhabitants to the square mile. 

The following sketch from a resident of the county, not only de¬ 
scribes interesting incidents in the life of one of the first settlers on 
the Reserve, but gives facts of importance connected with the his¬ 
tory of this region. 


Col. James Hillman, of Youngstown, was one of the pioneers of the west, and rendered 
essential service to the early settlers of the Western Reserve. He is still living, and at the 
age of 84 enjoys good health and spirits, and walks with as much elasticity of step as most 
men 30 years younger. He was born in Northampton, Pa., and in 1784, was a soldier un¬ 
der Gen. Harmar, and was discharged at Fort M’lntosh, at Beaver town, on the Ohio, in 
August, 1785, after the treaty with the Indians. 

His acquaintance with the country, now known as the Western Reserve, commenced in 
the spring of 1786, at which time he entered into the service of Duncan & Wilson, of 
Pittsburgh. They were engaged in forwarding goods and provisions, upon pack-horses, 
across the country to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, (now Cleveland,) thence to be shipped 
on the schooner Mackinaw, to Detroit. During the summer of 1786, he made six trips,— 
the caravan consisting of ten men and ninety horses. They usually crossed the Big Beaver, 
4 miles below the mouth of the Shenango, thence up the left bank of the Mahoning, cross¬ 
ing it about three miles above the village of Youngstown, thence by way of the Salt 
Springs, in the township of Weathersfield, through Milton and Ravenna, crossing the 
Cuyahoga at the mouth of Breakneck, and again at the mouth of Tinker’s creek, in Bed¬ 
ford, and thence down the river to its mouth, where they erected a log hut for the safe 
keeping of their goods, which was the first house built in Cleveland. At the mouth of 
Tinker’s creek were a few houses built by the Moravian missionaries. They were then 
vacant, the Indians having occupied them one year only, previous to their removal to the 
Tuscarawas river. These, and three or four cabins at the Sait Springs, were the only 
buildings erected by the whites between the Ohio river and Lake Erie. Those at the Salt 
Springs were erected for the accommodation of persons sent there to make salt, and the 
tenants were dispossessed during the summer of 1785, by order of Gen. Harmar. During 
this year, 1786, Kribs, who was left in one of the cabins to take care of goods belonging 
to Duncan & Wilson, was murdered by the Indians, and his body was found by Hillman’s 
party, shockingly mangled by the wolves. During the same season, James Morrow and 
Sam Simerson, returning from Sandusky, were killed by the Indians, at Eagle creek, west 
of Cleveland. Mr. Hillman was married in 1786—and in 1788, settled at Beaver town, 
where Duncan & Wilson had a store for the purpose of trading with the Indians. 

From 1788 to 1796, Mr. Hillman resided in Pittsburgh, and traded with the Indians in 
Ohio, principally on the Reserve, bringing his goods in canoes up the Mahoning. His in¬ 
tercourse with the Indians during these eight years and before, afforded him the opportu¬ 
nity of acquiring a knowledge of their language, and gaining their confidence, both of 
which he obtained, and by means of which, he was enabled afterwards to be of great ser¬ 
vice to the early settlers of the Reserve. 


MAHONING COUNTY. 


339 


In 1796, when returning from one of his trading expeditions, alone in his canoe, down 
the Mahoning river, he discovered a smoke on the bank, near the present site of the village 
of Youngstown, and on proceeding to the spot, he found Mr. Young, (the proprietor of the 
township,) who, with Mr. Wolcott, had just arrived to make a survey of his lands. The 
cargo of Mr. Hillman was not entirely disposed of, there remaining among other things I 
some whiskey, the price of which was to the Indians, $1,00 a quart, in the currency of the 
country, a deer skin being a legal tender for one dollar, and a doe skin half a dollar. Mr. 
Young proposed purchasing a quart, and having a frolic on its contents during the evening, 
and insisted upon paying Hillman his customary price for it. Hillman urged that inasmuch 
as they were strangers in the country, and just arrived upon his territory, civility required 
him to furnish the means of the entertainment. He however yielded to Mr. Young, who 
immediately took the deer skin he had spread for his bed, (the only one he had,) and paid 
for his quart of whiskey. His descendants in the state of New York, in relating the hard¬ 
ships of their ancestors, have not forgotten that Judge Young exchanged his bed for a quart 
of whiskey. 

Mr. Hillman remained with them a few days, when they accompanied him to Beaver 
town, to celebrate the 4th of July, and Mr. H. was induced to return and commence the 
settlement of the town, by building a house. This was about the first settlement made 
on the Western Reserve. In the fall of 1797, Mr. Brown and another person came on. 

It was during this season that Uriah Holmes, of Litchfield county, Ct., and Titus Hayes, 
arrived in Youngstown the same day, both having started from Connecticut on the same day, 
the one taking the route through the state of New York, via Buffalo, and the other through 
Pennsylvania. 

The settlement of the country proceeded prosperously until the murder of the two In¬ 
dians, Capt. George and Spotted John, at the Salt Springs, by M’Mahon and Story. 
This affair had nearly proved fatal to the settlements, and probably would but for the efforts 
of Mr. Hillman. The next day after the murder, for such it undoubtedly was, Col. Hill¬ 
man, with Mr. Young and the late Judge Pease, of Warren, who had just arrived, went to 
the Salt Springs, with a view of pacifying the Indians ; but they had gone, not however 
without having buried the bodies of their murdered companions. Col. Hillman and others 
expected trouble, and in order to show the Indians that the whites did not sanction the act, 
judged it advisable to take M’Mahon and Story prisoners; which they accordingly did the 
same day, at Warren. Col. H. had M’Mahon in custody, but Story, who was guarded by 
John Lane, escaped during the night. On the next day, M’Mahon was brought to Youngs¬ 
town, the settlers resolving to send him to Pittsburgh, to be kept in confinement until he 
could be tried. The affairs of the settlement, were at that time in a critical and alarming 
state, so much so, that all of the inhabitants, both of Youngstown and Warren, packed up 
their goods, and were upon the point of removing from the country, as they had every rea¬ 
son to apprehend that the Indians would take speedy vengeance. It was at this juncture, 
that the firmness and good sense of Col. Hillman was the means of saving the infant set¬ 
tlement from destruction. He advised sending a deputation to the Indians then encamped 
on the Mahoning, near where Judge Price’s mills now stand, and endeavor to avert the 
threatened danger. It was an undertaking imminently hazardous. Few men would have 
dared to go, and it is quite certain no other man in the settlement would have had any 
chance of success. He was acquainted with their language, and knew their principal men, 
and was aware that in his trading intercourse with them, he had acquired their confidence, and 
therefore felt no fear. Although urged to do so, he would not take any weapon of defence, 
but accompanied with one Randall, started very early the next morning, on his hazardous 
enterprize, and came in sight of the Indians before sunrise. The Indians, seventeen in 
number, were asleep, each with his gun and powder horn resting upon a forked stick at his 
head. Being in advance of Randall, he came within three rods of them before he was 
discovered. A squaw was the only one awake ; she immediately gave the alarm, which 
started every warrior to his feet with gun in hand. But seeing Col. H. and his companion 
riding into their encampment without arms, and unsuspicious of treachery or harm, they 
dropped their guns and immediately gathered around their visitors. 

Onondaga George, the principal man or chief, knew Hillman, and the late murder be¬ 
came the subject of a very earnest conversation ; the chief exhibiting much feeling while 
talking about it. Hillman told him frankly the object of his visit, and talked freely of the 
affair, condemning M’Mahon, and assured him that M’Mahon was then on his way to 
Pittsburg, and should stand a trial for the murder he had committed. Nothing could be 
done, however, until Capt. Peters should arrive with his braves. They were then en¬ 
camped farther up the river, near the present site of Deerfield, and were expected to ar¬ 
rive that day, a message having been sent for that purpose. 


340 


MAHONING COUNTY. 


In the course of the day they came, the countenance of Capt. Peters, as soon as he saw 
a white man present, scowled with hatred, revenge and defiance. Hillman endeavored to 
pacify him, but with little effect. During the interview, a conversation was had between 
Captains George and Peters, in the Seneca language, in which Capt. George endeavored 
to persuade the other, that they ought to kill Hillman and Randall, and before the whites 
could unite in defence, dispatch them in detail. But Capt. George would not agree to it, 
unwilling that Hillman, to whom he had conceived a liking, should be killed. It was not 
known to either that Hillman was acquainted with the Seneca language, in which this 
conversation was held ; he was, however—and it may be conceived with what interest he 
listened to it. Hillman succeeded, after several attempts, in drawing Capt. Peters aside, 
and offered him a considerable sum, if he would go to Cuyahoga on some business for the 
whites. This bribe, it seems, had its desired effect. The Indians retired a short distance 
and held a consultation, during which Randall became so much alarmed, that he proposed 
that each should take his horse and endeavor to make his escape. Hillman would not go, 
but observing that the Indians had left their guns leaning upon two trees near by, told 
Randall to station himself, and if on their return, one of their number should be painted 
black, (which Hillman knew was their custom when one was to be killed,) then each should 
seize upon the guns, and sell his life as dearly as possible. 

After a long time, however, they returned, Capt. Peters holding up a wampum belt with 
three strings, and saying that they had agreed to hold a council with the whites, on con¬ 
dition that three things should be done, as their wampum indicated. 1st. That George 
Foulk should act as interpreter ; 2d, that the council should be held within six days ; and 
3d, that M’Mahon should be kept until the council. These things being agreed to, Hill¬ 
man and Randall returned the same day to Youngstown, where they found all the inhabi¬ 
tants assembled, waiting in anxious suspense to learn the result of the expedition, and 
every preparation made for a sudden flight, in case it should have proved unsuccessful. 
Great was their joy on seeing Hillman and his companion arrive in safety, and telling what 
had been done. 

The inhabitants immediately set themselves about making the necessary preparations 
for the council. On the day appointed, two Indians made their appearance, and were 
conducted by Mr. Hillman to the place prepared to hold their council. After the cere¬ 
mony of smoking, commenced the speeches, and it was generally conceded that Captain 
Peters had the best of the argument, and throughout the whole of the consultation, showed 
a decided superiority over the whites opposed to him, in adroitness and force of argument, 
although our people had appointed three of their best men for that purpose, (the late Judge 
Pease, of Warren, and Gov. Huntington being of the number,) all of whom had pre¬ 
pared themselves for this encounter with Indian shrewdness. The result of the council 
was satisfactory to both parties ; that M’Mahon should be tried by a jury of his own color, 
according to the laws of his own country. There were about three hundred people present 
at the council, among whom was Mr. Hudson, of Portage county, and Mr. Ely, of Deerfield. 
Thus was tranquillity restored mainly through the instrumentality of Mr. Hillman, a ser¬ 
vice which was so highly appreciated by Ephraim Root, the agent of the Connecticut Land 
Company, that he agreed on the part of the company, that he would give him 100 acres of 
land ; the promise however was never redeemed. 

Soon after, M’Mahon was sent out by order of Gov. St. Clair, under a strong guard, 
to abide his trial at a special court ordered for that purpose, to be held in Youngstown by 
the Judges, Return J. Meigs and Benjamin Ives. Gilman, Backus & Tod were attornie3 
for the people ; and Mr. Simple, John S. Edwards and Benjamin Tappan for the prisoner. 
The court was attended by persons from a great distance, and it was generally believed, 
that many had come with a determination to rescue M’Mahon, in case he should be found 
guilty. He was, however, acquitted, principally upon the testimony of one Knox, who swore 
that M’Mahon retreated a step or two before he fired, which probably was not true, and 
was not believed by those who visited the spot on the day after the affair. Capt. Peters 
was upon the bench during the whole trial, and was satisfied that he had received a fair 
trial, and should, according to the laws of the whites, have been acquitted. As soon as 
Knox swore that M’Mahon retreated before he fired, Capt. Peters gave a characteristic 
“ ugh,” and whispered to Judge Meigs that the jury would acquit the prisoner. 

Thus terminated this critical affair, after which the settlement increased with great ra¬ 
pidity, and Col. Hillman from that time has enjoyed the confidence and respect of his fel¬ 
low citizens, twice expressed in electing him sheriff, under the territorial government, and 
in various other ways, and still lives respected and beloved by all. 

Canfield, the county seat, is 166 miles ne. of Columbus and 16 s. 


MAHONING COUNTY. 


341 


of Warren. It is on the main stage road from Cleveland to Pitts¬ 
burgh, on a gentle elevation. It is a neat, pleasant village, embow¬ 
ered in trees and shrubbery, among which the Lombardy poplar 
stands conspicuous. It contained in 1846, 3 stores, a newspaper 
printing office, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Epis. 1 Met. 1 Congregational and 1 
Lutheran church, and about 300 people. Since then the county 
buildings have been erected, and from being made the county seat, 
it will probably, by the time this reaches the eye of the reader, have' 
nearly doubled in population and business importance. 



Youngstown. 


Youngstown is the largest and most flourishing town in Mahoning 
county, beautifully situated on the north bank of the Mahoning 
river, 65 miles from Pittsburgh, Penn., 9 miles from Canfield, the 
seat of justice, for the county of Mahoning, 14 from Warren, the 
county seat of Trumbull county, 30 from Ravenna, Portage county, 
and 27 from New Lisbon, Columbiana county. It contains about 
1200 inhabitants, has 12 mercantile stores, 3 warehouses for receiv¬ 
ing and forwarding goods and produce on the canal, 4 churches, 1 
Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal Methodist, 1 Protestant Methodist and 1 
Disciples. The Pennsylvania and Ohio canal passes through the vil¬ 
lage, and the products of the surrounding country are sent here for 
shipment. Few places in Ohio are more beautifully situated; 
few have greater facilities for manufacturing, or bid fairer to be¬ 
come places of wealth and importance. Bituminous coal and iron 
ore abound in the immediate vicinity of the village, and along the 
line of the canal, adequate, it is believed, to the wants of a large 
manufacturing place. Several of the coal banks are already opened 
and successfully and profitably worked. The mines of the Hon. 
David Tod, furnish about one hundred tons of coal per day, and 
those of Crawford, Camp & Co., about sixty ; all of which have 
hitherto found a ready market at Cleveland for steamboat fuel. It 
has recently been ascertained that the coal in the valley of the 










342 


MAHONING COUNTY. 


Mahoning, is well adapted, in its raw state, to the smelting of iron 
ore, and three furnaces similar to the English and Scotch furnaces, 
each capable of producing from sixty to one hundred tons of pig 
metal per week, have been erected in the township, and near to the 
village. A large rolling mill has been erected in the village, at 
which is made the various sizes of bar, rod and hoop iron, also sheet 
iron, nails and spikes. The “ Youngstown Iron Company,” and the 
“ Eagle Iron and Steel Company,” contemplate the erection of ma¬ 
chinery for the purpose of making the T and H rails ; and it is 
more than probable that the various rail roads now projected in 
Ohio and the adjoining states, will be supplied with rails from this 
point. In addition to the above, there is quite a number of small 
manufacturing establishments for making tin-ware, cloth, axes, 
wagons, buggies, &c., &c. The amount of capital invested in the 
manufacturing of iron, is probably $200,000. 

The view given was taken from the southeast, a few hundred 
yards to the left of the road leading to Pittsburgh, and near the 
residence of Mr. Homer Hine, shown on the right. In front ap¬ 
pears the canal and Mahoning river: on the left the rolling mill of 
the Youngstown iron company. In the distance a part of the town 
is shown: the spires seen are respectively, commencing on the 
right, those of the Presbyterian, Disciples and Episcopal Methodist 
churches; near, on the left of the last named, appears the Protestant 
Methodist church. 

Poland is 8 miles from Canfield, on Yellow creek, a branch of the 
Mahoning. It is one of the neatest villages in the state. The dwell¬ 
ings are usually painted white, and have an air of comfort. Conside¬ 
rable business centers here from the surrounding country, which is 
fertile. In the vicinity is coal and iron ore of an excellent quality. 
Limestone of a superior kind abounds in the township: it is burnt 
and largely exported for building purposes and manure. Poland 
contains 5 stores, 1 Presbyterian and 1 Methodist church, an acad¬ 
emy, an iron foundery, 1 grist, 1 saw, 1 oil and 1 clothing mill, and 
about 100 dwellings. 

In a tamarack and cranberry swamp in this vicinity, “ are found large numbers of a small 
black, or very dark brown, rattle-snake, about 12 or 14 inches in length, and of a propor¬ 
tionate thickness. They have usually three or four rattles. This species seem to be con¬ 
fined to the tamarack swamps, and are found no where else but in their vicinities, wander¬ 
ing in the summer months a short distance only from their borders. When lying basking in 
the sun, they reemble a short, dirty, broken stick or twig, being generally discolored with 
mud, over which they are frequently moving. Their bite is not very venomous, yet they are 
much dreaded by the neighboring people. Their habitations are retired and unfrequented, 
so that few persons are ever bitten. The Indian name for this snake is Massasauga.” 

At Lowell, 4 miles e. from Poland, on the canal and Mahoning 
river, is the extensive furnace of Wilkinson, Wilkes & Co.; 2 miles 
northerly, on the same stream, is a furnace of the Great Western 
Iron Company. Ellsworth, 5 miles w. of Canfield, has 2 stores, 2 
churches, about 35 dwellings and an excellent academy, under the 
supervision of the Methodists. Austintown and Fredericksburg are 
small places in the northern part of the county. The following are 


MARION COUNTY. 


343 


villages formerly within Columbiana county. To some of them is 
attached their population, as in the census of 1840: Petersburg 187, 
Lima 129, N. Middletown 118, Green Village 351, Lewistown 79, 
N. Springfield 89, New Albany 52, Birmingham and Princeton. 


MARION. 

Marion was organized March 1st, 1824, and named from General 
Francis Marion, of South Carolina, a partisan officer of the revolu¬ 
tion. The surface is level, except on the extreme east. The San¬ 
dusky plains, which is prairie land, covers that part of the county 
north of Marion and west of the Whetstone, and is well adapted to 
grazing: the remaining part, comprising about two-thirds of the 
surface, is best adapted to wheat. The soil is fertile. The prin¬ 
cipal farm-crops are corn, wheat and grass, a large proportion of 
the prairie land being appropriated to grazing: much live stock and 
wool is produced in the county: some of the flocks of sheep con¬ 
tain about 5000 head. The following is a list of the townships in 
1840, with their population. 


Big Island, 

554 

Grand Prairie, 716 

Richland, 

1138 

Bowling Green, 

324 

Green Camp, 361 

Salt Rock, 

607 

Canaan, 

1027 

Marion, 1638 

Scott, 

854 

Clarion, 

1084 

Montgomery, 552 

Tully, 

870 

Gilead, 

1150 

Morven, 976 

Washington, 

880 

Grand, 

605 

Pleasant, 1414 




The population of Marion, in 1830, was 6558, and in 1840,14,750, 
or 28 inhabitants to the square mile. 

By the treaty concluded at the foot of the Maumee rapids, Sept. 
29th, 1817, Lewis Cass and Duncan M’Arthur being commissioners 
on the part of the United States, there was granted to the Delaware 
Indians a reservation of three miles square, on or near the northern 
boundary of this county, and adjoining the Wyandot reservation of 
twelve miles square. This reservation was to be equally divided 
among the following persons: Captain Pipe, Zeshauau or James 
Armstrong, Mahautoo or John Armstrong, Sanoudoyeasquaw or 
Silas Armstrong, Teorow or Black Raccoon, Hawdorouwatistie or 
Billy Montour, Buck Wheat, William Dondee, Thomas Lyons, 
Johnny Cake, Captain Wolf, Isaac and John Hill,»Tishatahoones or 
widow Armstrong, Ayenucere, Hoomaurou or John Ming, and 
Youdorast. Some of these Indians had lived at Jeromeville, in 
Ashland, and Greentown, in Richland county, which last village 
was burnt by the whites early in the late war. By the treaty con¬ 
cluded at Little Sandusky, August 3d, 1829, John M’Elvain being 
United States commissioner, the Delawares ceded this reservation 
to the United States for &3000, and removed west of the Mississippi. 

Marion, the county seat, is 44 miles north of Columbus. It was 



344 


MEDINA COUNTY. 


laid out in 1821, by Eber Baker and Alexander Holmes, who were 
proprietors of the soil. It is compactly built; the view, taken in 
front of the Marion hotel, shows one of the principal streets: the 
court-house appears on the left, the Mirror office on the right, and 



View in Marion. 

Berry’s hill in the distance. General Harrison passed through this 
region in the late war, and encamped with his troops just south of 
the site of the village, on the edge of the prairie, at a place known 
as “ Jacob’s well.” The town is improving steadily, and has some 
fine brick buildings: it contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist and 1 
German church, an academy, 2 newspaper printing offices, 15 dry 
goods, 1 drug and 5 grocery stores, 1 saw, 1 fulling, oil and carding 
mill, and about 800 inhabitants: in 1840 it had a population of 570. 

Mount Gilead, 18 miles be. of Marion, is a flourishing village, con¬ 
taining 2 churches, several stores, 2 or 3 mills, and about 400 inhab¬ 
itants. Iberia, Caledonia, Cardington, Le Timbreville, Denmark, 
Big Island, Claridon and Holmesville, are small villages. 


MEDINA. 

Medina was formed February 18th, 1812, “from that part of the 
Reserve west of* the 11th range, south of the numbers 5, and east 
of the 20th range, and attached to Portage county, until organized.” 
It was organized in April, 1818. The county was settled princi¬ 
pally from Connecticut, though within the last few years there has 
been a considerable accession of Germans. The surface is generally 
rolling, with much bottom land of easy tillage: the soil is princi¬ 
pally clay and gravelly loam—the clayey portion scantily watered, 
the gravelly abundantly. The soil is better adapted to grass than 
grain. The principal productions are wheat, hay, wool, corn, oats, 





























MEDINA COUNTY. 


345 


1110 

Homer, 

660 

Sharon, 

1314 

555 

Lafayette, 

938 

Spencer, 

551 

954 

Litchfield, 

787 

Wadsworth, 

1481 

1402 

Liverpool, 

1502 

Westfield, 

1031 

1256 

Medina, 

1435 

York, 

782 

1287 

Montville, 

915 



barley, butter and cheese. The following is a list of the townships 
in 1840, with their population. 

Brunswick, 

Chatham, 

Granger, 

Guilford, 

Harrisville, 

Hinckley, 

The population of Medina, in 1820, was 3090 ; in 1830, 7560, and 
in 1840, 18,360, or 43 inhabitants to the square mile. 

The first regular settlement in the county, was made at Harris¬ 
ville, on the 14th of February, 1811, by Joseph Harris, Esq., who 
removed from Randolph, Portage county, with his family, consisting 
of his wife and one child. The nearest white people were at Woos¬ 
ter, 17 miles distant. 

The first trail made through the county north, toward the lake, 
was from Wooster, a short time after the declaration of war with 
Great Britain. The party consisted of George Poe, (son of Adam, 
see page 106,) Joseph H. Larwill and Roswell M. Mason. They 
carried their provision in packs, and laid out the first night on their 
blankets, in the open air, on the south side of “ the big swamp.” It 
was amusing, as they lay, to listen to the howling of the wolves, and 
hear the raccoons catch frogs and devour them, making, in their 
mastication, a peculiar and inimitable noise, which sounded loud in 
the stillness of the night. In the course of the evening, they heard 
bells of cattle north of them, and in the morning, discovered the set¬ 
tlement of Mr. Harris. From thence they proceeded down to the 
falls of Black river, at what is now Elyria, and at the mouth of the 
stream found a settler, named Read, whose habitation, excepting 
that of Mr. Harris, was the only one between there and Wooster. 

In the June following Mr. Harris’s arrival, he was joined by Rus¬ 
sel Burr and George Burr and family, direct from Litchfield, Conn. 
In the summer after, on the breaking out of the war, Messrs. Harris 
and Burr removed their families, for a few months, to Portage county, 
from fear of the Indians, and returned themselves in October, to 
Harrisville. The following winter, provision was carried from the 
Middlebury mills, by the residence of Judge Harris, to Fort Ste¬ 
phenson, his cabin being the last on the route. The season is ad¬ 
verted to by the old settlers as “ the cold winter.” Snow lay to the 
depth of 18 inches, from the 1st of January to the 27th of February, 
during which the air was so cold that it did not diminish an inch in 
depth, during the whole time. 

An Indian trail from Sandusky to the Tuscarawas, passed by the 
residence of Mr. Harris. It was a narrow, hard-trodden bridle¬ 
path. In the fall, the Indians came upon it from the west, to this 
region, remained through the winter to hunt, and returned in the 
spring, their horses laden with furs, jerked venison and bear’s oil, 
the last an extensive article of trade. The horses were loose, and 
followed each other in single file. It was not uncommon to see a 

44 


346 


MEDINA COUNTY. 


single hunter returning with as many as twenty horses laden with 
his winter’s work, and usually accompanied by his squaw and 
pappooses, all mounted. The Indians often built their wigwams in 
this vicinity, near water, frequently a dozen within a tew rods. 
They were usually made of split logs or poles, covered with bark. 
Some of the chiefs had theirs made of flags, which they rolled up 
and carried with them. The Indians were generally very friendly 
with the settlers, and it was rare to find one deficient in mental 
acuteness. 

In the fall of the same year that Mr. Harris settled at Harrisville, 
William Litey, a native of Ireland, with his family, settled in Bath 
township, on or near the border of Portage county. In the winter 
of 1815, after the close of the war, the settlements began to increase. 
Among the early settlers, are recollected the names of Esquire Van 
Heinen, Zenas Hamilton, Rufus Ferris, James Moore, the Ingersoll’s, 
Jones’s, Sibley’s, Frieze’s, Root’s, Deming’s, Warner, Hoyt, Dean 
and Durham. 

It was not uncommon for the early settlers on the Reserve, to 
collect from several townships, in numbers from two to five hundred, 
and engage in “ a grand hunt.” But so many accidents happened 
—one man being killed and others wounded, by shooting across the 
corners—arising from the want of discipline, and the difficulty of 
restraining the men in their eagerness—that the custom fell into dis¬ 
repute. We annex a description of the method of conducting these 
hunts, from a sketch of Tallmadge, by Charles Whittlesey, Esq. 

A large tract of wild land, the half or fourth of a township, was surrounded by lines of 
men, with such intervals that each person could see or hear those next him, right and left. 
The whole acted under the command of a captain, and at least four subordinates, who 
were generally mounted. At a signal of tin horns or trumpets, every man advanced in line 
towards the center, preserving an equal distance from those on either hand, and making as 
much noise as practicable. From the middle of each side of the exterior line, a blazed line 
of trees was previously marked to the center as a guide, and one of the sub-officers pro¬ 
ceeded along each as the inarch progressed. About a half or three-fourths of a mile from 
the central point, a ring of blazed trees was made, and a similar one at the ground of 
meeting, with a diameter at least equal to the greatest rifle range. On arriving at the first 
ring, the advancing lines halted till the commandant made a circuit, and saw the men 
equally distributed and all gaps closed. By this time, a herd of deer might be occasionally 
seen driving in affright from one line to another. At the signal, the ranks move forward 
to the second ring, which is drawn around the foot of an eminence, or the margin of an 
open swamp or lake. Here, if the drive has been a successful one, great numbers of tur¬ 
keys may be seen flying among the trees away from the spot. Deer, in flocks, sweeping 
around the ring, under an incessant fire, panting and exhausted. When thus pressed, it is 
difficult to detain them long in the ring. They become desperate, and make for the line a t 
full speed. If the men are too numerous and resolute to give way, they leap over their 
heads, and all the sticks, pitch-forks and guns raised to oppose them. By a concert of the 
regular hunters, gaps are sometimes made purposely to allow them to escape. The wolf 
is now seen skulking through the bushes, hoping to escape observation by concealment. If 
bears are driven in, they dash through the brush in a rage from one part of the field to 
another, regardless of the shower of bullets playing upon them. After the game appears 
to be mostly killed, a few good marksmen and dogs scour the ground within the circle, to 
stir up what may be concealed or wounded. This over, they advance again to the center 
with a shout, dragging along the carcasses which have fallen, for the purpose of making a 
count. It was at the hunt in Portage, that the bears were either exterminated or driven 
away from this vicinity. It embraced the “ Perkins’ Swamp” and several smaller ones, 
rendered passable by ice. At the close of this “ drive” twenty-six were brought to the 
center ground, and others reported. 


MEDINA COUNTY. 


347 


Medina, the county seat, is on the stage road from Cleveland to 
Columbus, 28 miles from the first and 117 from the latter. It was 
originally called Mecca—and is so marked on the early maps of 
Ohio—from the Arabian city famous as the birth-place of Mahomet: 



The Public Square, Medina. 


it was afterwards changed to its present name, being the seventh 
place on the globe of that name. The others are Medina , a town of 
Arabia Deserta, celebrated as the burial-place of Mahomet; Medina , 
the capital of the kingdom of Woolly, West Africa; Medina , a 
tow r n and fort on the island of Bahrein, near the Arabian shore of 
the Persian gulf; Medina , a town in Estremadura, Spain ; Medina , 
Orleans county, N. Y., and Medina , Lenawee county, Michigan. 

On the organization of the county, in 1818, the first court was 
held in a barn, now standing half a mile north of the court house. 
The village was laid out that year, and the next season a few settlers 
moved in. The township had been previously partially settled. 
In 1813, Zenas Hamilton moved into the central part, with his fam¬ 
ily, from Danbury, Conn. Ilis nearest neighbor was some eight or 
ten miles distant. Shortly after came the families of Rufus Ferris, 
Timothy Doane, Lathrop Seymour, James Moore, Isaac Barnes, 
Joseph Northrop, Friend Ives, Abijah Mann, James Palmer, William 
Painter, Frederick Appleton, etc. etc. 

Rev. Roger Searle, an Episcopalian, was the first clergyman, 
and the first church was in the eastern part of the township, where 
was then the most population. It was a log structure, erected in 

1817. One morning all the materials were standing, forming a part 
of the forest, and in the afternoon, Rev. Mr. Searle preached a ser¬ 
mon in the finished church. From an early day, religious worship 
in some form was held in the township on the Sabbath. The men 
brought their families to “ meeting” in ox-teams, in which they gen¬ 
erally had an axe and an augur, to mend their carts in case of acci¬ 
dents^ the roads being very bad. The first wedding was in March, 

1818, -at which the whole settlement were present. When the cer¬ 
emony and rejoicings were over, each man lighted his flambeau of 










348 


MEIGS COUNTY. 


hickory bark, and made his way home through the forest. The 
early settlers got their meal ground at a log mill at Middlebury ; 
although but about 20 miles distant, the journey there and back oc¬ 
cupied five days. They had only ox-teams, and the rough roads 
they cut through the woods, after being passed over a few times, 
became impassable from mud, compelling them to continually open 
new ones. 4 

Owing to the want of a market, the products of agriculture were 
very low. Thousands of bushels of wheat could at one time be 
bought for less than 25 cents per bushel, and cases occurred where 
10 bushels were offered for a single pound of tea, and refused. As 
an example: Mr. Joel Blakeslee, of Medina, about the year 1822, 
sowed 55 acres in wheat, which he only could sell by bartering with 
his neighbors. He fed out most of it in bundles to his cattle and 
swine. All that he managed to dispose of for cash, was a small 
quantity sold to a traveller, at 12^ cents per bushel, as feed for his 
horse. Other products were in proportion. One man brought an 
ox-wagon filled with corn from Granger, eight miles distant, which 
he gladly exchanged for three yards of satinet for a pair of panta¬ 
loons. It was not until the opening of the Erie canal, that the set¬ 
tlers had a market. From that time, the course of prosperity has 
been onward. The early settlers, after wearing out their woollen 
pantaloons, were obliged to have them seated and kneed with buck¬ 
skin, in which attire they attended church. It was almost impos¬ 
sible to raise wool, in consequence of the abundance of wolves, who 
destroyed the sheep. 

The view given on the annexed page of the public square in Me¬ 
dina, was taken from the steps of the new court house: the old court 
house and the Bap. ch. are seen on the right. The village contains 1 
Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Baptist, 1 Free Will Baptist, 1 Meth¬ 
odist and 1 Universalist church, 7 dry goods, 5 grocery, 1 book and 
2 apothecary stores, 1 newspaper printing office, 1 woollen and 1 
axe factory, 1 flouring mill, 1 furnace, and had in 1840, 655 inhab¬ 
itants, since which it has increased. 

Seville, 9 miles s. of Medina, has 4 stores, 1 woollen factory, 3 
churches, and about 300 inhabitants. There are other small villages 
in the county, containing more or less stores and churches, and from 
30 to 50 dwellings each: they are, Harrisville, Brunswick, Litch¬ 
field and Wadsworth, at the last of which is a fine academy for both 
sexes. 


MEIGS. 

Meigs, named from Return J. Meigs, elected governor of Ohio in 
1810, was formed from Gallia and Athens, April 1st, 1819, and the 
courts were directed “to be temporarily held at the meeting-house 
in Salisbury township.” The surface is broken and hilly, "in the 



MEIGS COUNTY. 


349 


west, a portion of the soil is a dark, sandy loam, but the general 
character of the soil is clayey. Considerable quantities of corn, 
oats, wheat, hay and potatoes are raised and exported. Excepting 
Morgan and Athens, more salt is made in this than in any other 
county in Ohio : in 1840, 47,000 bushels were produced. The fol¬ 
lowing is a list of the townships in 1840, with their population. 


Bedford, 

566 

Letart, 

640 

Salem, 

940 

Chester, 

1479 

Olive, 

746 

Salisbury, 

1507 

Columbia 

674 

Orange, 

Rutland, 

836 

Scipio, 

Sutton, 

941 

Lebanon, 

621 

1412 

1099 


The population of Meigs, in 1820, was 4,480, in 1830, 6,159, and 
in 1840, 11,455; or 25 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The mouth of Shade river, which empties into the Ohio, in the 
upper part of the county, is a gloomy, rocky place, formerly called 
“ the Devil’s hole.” The Indians, returning from their murderous 
incursions into western Virginia, were accustomed to cross the Ohio 
at that point with their prisoners and plunder, follow up the valley 
of Shade river on their way to their towns on the Scioto. 

The first settlers of the county were principally of New England 
origin, and emigrated from Washington county, which lies above. 
From one of these, now residing in the county, we have received a 
communication illustrating pioneer life. 

People who have spent their lives in an old settled country, can form but a faint idea of 
the privations and hardships endured by the pioneers of our now flourishing and prospe¬ 
rous state. When I look on Ohio as it is, and think what it was in 1802, when I first 
settled here, I am struck with astonishment, and can hardly credit my own senses. When 
I emigrated, I was a young man, without any property, trade or profession, entirely de¬ 
pendent on my own industry for a living. I purchased 60 acres of new land on credit, 2£ 
miles from any house or road, and built a camp of poles 7 by 4 feet, and 5 high, with three 
sides, and a fire in front. I furnished myself with a loaf of bread, a piece of pickled pork, 
some potatoes, borrowed a frying-pan and commenced housekeeping. I was not hindered 
from my work by company ; for the first week, I did not see a living soul, but, to make amends 
for the want of it, I had every night a most glorious concert of wolves and owls. I soon 
(like Adam) saw the necessity of a help-mate, and persuaded a young woman to tie her 
destiny to mine. I built a log-house, 20 feet square—quite aristocratic in those days—and 
moved into it. I was fortunate enough to possess a jack-knife ; with that I made a wooden 
knife and two wooden forks, which answered admirably for us to eat with. A bedstead 
was wanted ; I took two round poles for the posts, inserted a pole in them for a side rail, 
two other poles were inserted for the end pieces, the ends of which were put in the logs of 
the house—some puncheons were then split and laid from the side rail to the crevice be¬ 
tween the logs of the house, which formed a substantial bed-cord, on which we laid our 
straw bed—the only bed we had—on which we slept as soundly and woke as happy as 
Albert and Victoria. 

In process of time, a yard and a half of calico was wanted ; I started on foot through 
the woods ten miles, to Marietta, to procure it; but, alas! when I arrived there I found that, 
in the absence of both money and credit, the calico was not to be obtained. The dilemma 
was a serious one, and how to escape I could not devise; but I had no sooner informed my 
wife of my failure, than she suggested that I had a pair of thin pantaloons, which I could 
very well spare, that would make quite a decent frock : the pants were cut up, the frock 
made, and in due time the child was dressed. 

The long winter evenings were rather tedious, and in order to make them pass more 
smoothly, by great exertion, I purchased a share in the Belpre library, 6 miles distant. 
From this I promised myself much entertainment, but another obstacle presented itself—I 
had no candles; however, the woods afforded plenty of pine knots—with these I made 
torches, by which I could read, though I nearly spoiled my eyes. Many a night have 1 
passed in this manner till 12 or 1 o’clock reading to my wife, while she was hatchelling, 


350 


MEIGS COUNTY. 


carding or spinning. Time rolled on, the payments for my land became due, and money, 
at that time, in Ohio, was a cash article: however, I did not despair. I bought a few 
steers: some I bartered for, and others I got on credit—my credit having somewhat im¬ 
proved since the calico expedition—slung a knapsack on my back, and started alone with 
my cattle for Romney, on the Potomac, where I sold them, then travelled on to Litchfield, 
Connecticut, paid for my land, and had just $1 left to bear my expenses home, 600 miles 
distant. Before I returned, I worked and procured 50 cents in cash; with this and my 
dollar I commenced my journey homeward. I laid out my dollar for cheap haircombs, and 
these, with a little Yankee pleasantry, kept me very comfortably at the private houses 
where I stopped till I got to Owego, on the Susquehanna, where I had a power of attorney 
to collect some money for a neighbor in Ohio. 

I might proceed and enumerate scenes without number similar to the above, which have 
passed under my own observation, or have been related to me by those whose veracity I 
have no reason to doubt; but from what I have written, you will be able to perceive that 
the path of the pioneer is not strewed with roses, and that the comforts which many of our 
inhabitants now enjoy have not been obtained without persevering exertions, industry and 
economy. What, let me ask, would the young people of the present day think of their 
future prospects, were they now to be placed in a similar situation to mine in 1803 ? How 
would the young miss, taken from the fashionable, modern parlor, covered with Brussels 
carpets, and ornamented with pianos, mirrors, &c., &c., manage her spinning wheel, in a 
log-cabin, on a puncheon floor, with no furniture except, perhaps, a bake-oven and a splint 
broom 1 

Pomeroy, the county seat, is on the Ohio river, 76 miles in a direct 
line se. of Columbus, 80 below Marietta, and 234 above Cincinnati. 
It is situated on a narrow strip of ground from 20 to 30 rods wide, 
under a lofty and steep hill, in the midst of wild and romantic 
scenery. It contains 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, 1 German Lutheran 
and 1 Presbyterian church; a newspaper printing office, 1 flouring and 
2 saw mills, 2 founderies, 2 carding machines, 1 machine shop, 10 
mercantile stores, and about 1600 inhabitants. It is a very flourish¬ 
ing town, deriving its importance principally from the coal mines 
situated here. We give below, in the language of a correspondent, 
an historical sketch of the village, with some notice of the coal 
mines. 

The first settler within the limits of Pomeroy was Mr. Nathaniel Clark, who came 
about the year 1816. The first coal bank opened in Pomeroy was in 1819, by David 
Bradshaw. Bentley took 1200 bushels of coal to Louisville, and sold it for 25 cents a 
bushel, which was the first coal exported from Pomeroy. As early as 1805 or 6, there had 
been an attempt at exporting coal from Coalport, by Hoover and Cashell, but’ it proved 
unprofitable, and was abandoned after sending off one small load. About 1820, John 
Knight rented a large quantity of coal land from Gen. Putnam, at $20 a year, and’ com¬ 
menced working the mines. On the 15th of July, 1825, Samuel Grant entered 80 acres, 
and Josiah Dill, 160 acres of Congress land, which lies in the upper part of Pomeroy. Sub¬ 
sequently, Mr. Dill laid out a few town lots on his land, but it did not improve to any extent 
until the Pomeroy improvement commenced, in 1833. In 1827, a post office was estab¬ 
lished here, called Nyesville, and Nial Nye appointed postmaster. In 1840, the town was 
incorporated, and in June, 1841, made the county seat. 

In the spring of 1804, Samuel W. Pomeroy, an enterprizing merchant of Boston, Massa¬ 
chusetts, purchased of Elbridge Gerry, one of the original proprietors in the Ohio company, 
a full share of land in said company’s purchase, the fraction of said share (262 acres) lyin» 
in the now town of Pomeroy. In 1832, Mr. Pomeroy put 1000 bushels of coal into boxes 
and shipped them on a flat boat for New Orleans, to be sent round to Boston ; but the boat 
foundered before it left Coalport, and the expedition failed. In 1833, Mr. Pomeroy having 
purchased most of the coal land on the river for four miles, formed a company, consist¬ 
ing of himself, his two sons, Samuel W. Pomeroy, jr., and C. R. Pomeroy, and his sons-in- 
law, N. B. Horton and C. W. Dabney, under the firm of Pomeroy, Sons & Co., and began 
mining on a large scale. They built a steam saw-mill, and commenced building houses 
for themselves and their workmen. In 1834, they moved on, at which time there were 12 


MEIGS COUNTY. 


351 


families in the town. In 1835, they built the steam tow-boat Condor, which could tow 
from four to six loaded boats or barges, and will tow back from 8 to 12 empty boats at a 
trip. It takes a week to perform a trip to Cincinnati and back, and she consumes 2000 
bushels of coal each trip. The company employ about 25 boats or barges, that carry from 
2000 to 11000 bushels of coal, each averaging, perhaps, 4000 bushels. The number of 
hands employed i3 about 200, and the number of bushels dug yearly about two millions; in 
addition to this, several individuals are engaged in the coal business, on a small scale. Five 
steamboats have been built in this place by the Pomeroy company. 

The mining of coal is mostly done at Coalport, one mile below the corporation line. Here 
the company have laid out a town, and been at great expense to prepare every thing neces¬ 
sary for mining and exporting coal; the railways are so constructed, that the loaded car 
descending to the river draws up the empty one. 

Immediately below Coalport is the town of Middleport, lately laid out by Philip Jones, 
which already contains several stores, and is building up fast. Adjoining Middleport is 
Sheffield, a pleasant town, which bids fair to become a place of business. In all probability, 
the time is not distant when the towns of Pomeroy, Coalport, Middleport and Sheffield will 
be one continuous village. 

About the year 1791 or 2, Capt. Hamilton Carr, a noted spy in the service of the United 
States, in his excursions through these parts, discovered an enormous sycamore tree below 
the mouth of Carr’s run, near where Murdock &. Nyes’s mill now stands, which was sub¬ 
sequently occupied as a dwelling house. Capt. Whitlock, of Coalport, informs me, that he 
himself measured that tree, and found the hollow to be 18 feet in diameter. Capt. Whit¬ 
lock further states, that as late as 1821, he took dinner from the top of a sugar-tree stump, 
in a log-house near where the court-house now stands, the only table the people had in the 
house. 

The view shown in the engraving was taken at the mines at Coal¬ 
port, nearly two miles below the main village of Pomeroy. Here 
horizontal shafts are run into the hill, at an elevation of more thaA 
100 feet above the river bed. The coal is carried out in cars on 
railways, and successively emptied from the cars on one grade to 
that below, and so on until the last cars in turn empty into the boats 
on the river, by which it is carried to market. The mining is con¬ 
ducted in a systematic manner, and most of those employed are na¬ 
tives of Wales, familiar with mining from youth. 

“ The coal strata dips to the north two or three feet in a hundred 
yards, requiring drains to free them from the water when opened on 
the south side of the hill. Above the coal is a deposit of shale and 
ash-colored marly clay, of eight or ten feet in thickness, which forms 
the roof of the mines—superincumbent on which is a deposit of 
stratified sand rock, rather coarse-grained, of nearly 100 feet in 
thickness. The shale abounds in fine fossil plants. In mining the 
coal, gunpowder is extensively used; a small charge throwing out 
large masses of coal. This coal, being of the black slaty structure, 
abounds in bituminous matter and burns very freely ; its specific 
gravity is 1*27. Twenty grains of the coarse powder decompose 
100 grains of nitrate of potash, which will give to this coal nearly 
60 per cent, of charcoal. It must, therefore, be valuable for the 
manufacture of coke, an article that must ultimately be brought into 
use in the numerous furnaces along the great iron deposit, a few 
miles south and west of this place. It is a curious fact, that the coal 
deposits are very thin and rare near the Ohio river, from Pipe’s 
creek, 15 miles below Wheeling, to Carr’s run, in this county. As 
the main coal dips under the Ohio at both these places, the inference 
is, that the coal lies below the surface, and could readily be reached 


352 


MERCER COUNTY. 


by a shaft, first ascertaining its distance from the surface by the 
operation of boring.”* 



Pomeroy Coal Mines. 


Chester, 8 miles ne. of Pomeroy, on Shade river, was formerly 
the county seat: in 1840, it had 273 inhabitants. Rutland, 6 miles 
w. of Pomeroy, on Leading creek, is also a small village. 


MERCER. 

Mercer, named from Gen. Hugh Mercer, a Virginia officer who 
fell at Princeton, Jan. 3d, 1777, was formed from old Indian terri¬ 
tory, April 1st, 1820. The land is flat, and much of it, while in the 


* Dr. S. P. Hildreth, in the 29th volume of Silliman’s Journal, 

















MERCER COUNTY. 


353 


forest state, wet, but when cleared, very fertile, and well adapted to 
grass, small grain and Indian corn, which last is the principal pro¬ 
duction. The following is a list of the townships in 1840, with their 
population. 


Black Creek, 340 
Butter, 178 

Center, 1059 

Dublin, 705 

German, 1499 


Granville, 339 

Jefferson, 3G8 

Marion, 1141 

Recovery, 298 

Salem, 579 


St. Mary’s, 1515 

Union, 566 

Washington, 214 

Wayne, 377 


The population of Mercer, in 1830, was 1737, and in 1840, 8277; 
or 16 inhabitants to the square mile. 

Celina, the county seat, is in the heart of the county, on Wabash 
river. It is a new place, and does not contain at present over 100 
dwellings. St. Mary’s, formerly the county seat, is 10 miles e. and 
105 nw. of Columbus. It lies on St. Mary’s river and on the Miami 
extension canal, 67 miles n. of Dayton, and had, in 1840,570 inhabi¬ 
tants. Each of these, with the improvement of the country, will 
probably be towns of importance. 

St. Clair’s battle was fought on the line of this and Darke county. 
The trace of Wayne is yet discernable through the county leading 
from Fort Recovery to Fort Adams, which last stood on the south 
bank of the St. Mary’s, in the north part of the county, and about 12 
miles east of the Indiana line. 

In September, 1818, lion. Lewis Cass and Hon. Duncan M’Arthur, 
commissioners on the part of the United States, made a treaty at St. 
Mary’s with the Wyandots, Shawnees and Ottawas. In the follow¬ 
ing month, Messrs. Jennings, Cass and Parke, acting for the United 
States, made treaties at the same place with the Weas, Potawat- 
omies, Delawares and Miamis. 

The notorious Simon Girty at one time lived on the right bank of 
the St. Mary’s, within the limits of the town of that name, between 
the river and canal. The spot on which his cabin is said to have 
stood, is marked by a depression. The old fort, St. Mary’s, built by 
Wayne, stood in the village of St. Mary’s, on the west bank of the 
river, on the lot now owned by Christian Benner, about 80 rods se. 
of Rickley’s tavern. 

The last commander of Fort St. Mary’s was Captain John Whistler. He was a soldier 
from his youth, came to America in Burgoyne’s army, and was taken prisoner at Saratoga. 
He remained afterwards in the United States, entered the western army under St. Clair, 
and survived the disastrous defeat of Nov. 1791, at which time he acted as serjeant. In 
1793, an order came from the war office, purporting that any non-commissioned officer 
who should raise 25 recruits, would receive the commission of an ensign. He succeeded in 
this way in obtaining the office, from which he rose to a captaincy, and commanded in 
succession Forts St. Mary’s, Wayne and Dearborn, at Chicago. He built the latter with¬ 
out the aid of a horse or ox: the timber and materials were all hauled by the labor of the 
soldiers, their commander always at their head assisting. He could recruit more men and 
perform more labor than any other officer in the army. Age and hard service at length 
broke him down. He retired from the line of the army and received the appointment of 
military storekeeper at St. Louis, where he died about 20 years since.* 


* Col. John Johnston. 
45 




354 


MERCER COUNTY, 


The largest artificial lake, it is said, on the globe, is formed by the 
reservoir supplying the St. Mary’s feeder of the Miami extension 
canal, from which it is situated three miles west. The reservoir is 
about nine miles long and from two to four broad. It is on the sum¬ 
mit, between the Ohio and the lakes. About one half, in its natural 



Artificial Lake. 

state, was a prairie, and the remainder a forest. It was formed by 
raising two walls of earth, from ten to twenty-five feet high, called 
respectively the east and west embankment, the first of which is 
about two miles, and the last near four in length. These walls, with 
the elevation of the ground to the north and south, form a huge basin 
to retain the water. The reservoir was commenced in 1837, and 
completed in 1845, at an expense of several hundred thousand dollars. 
The west embankment was completed in 1843. The water filled in 
at the upper end to the depth of several feet, but as the ground rose 
gradually to the east, it overflowed for several miles to the depth of 
a few inches only. This vast body of water, thus exposed to the 
powerful rays of the sun, would, if allowed to have remained, have 
bred pestilence through the adjacent country. Moreover, whole 
farms that belonged to individuals, yet unpaid for by the state, were 
completely submerged. Under these circumstances, about 150 resi¬ 
dents of the county turned out with spades and shovels, and by 
two days of industry, tore a passage for the water through the em¬ 
bankment. It cost several thousand dollars to repair the damage. 
Among those concerned in this affair were persons high in official 
station and respectability, some of whom here, for the first time, 
blistered their hands at manual labor. They were all liable to the 
state law making the despoiling of public works a penitentiary of- 




























MERCER COUNTY, 


355 


fenee; but a grand jury could not be found in Mercer to find a bill 
ot indictment. 

The legislature, by a joint resolution, passed in 1837, resolved that 
no reservoir should be made for the public canals without the timber 
being first cleared : it was unheeded by officers in charge of this 
work. The trees were only girdled, and thus thousands of acres of 
most valuable timber, that would have been of great value to the 
commonwealth in building of bridges and other constructions on the 
public works, wantonly wasted. 

The view of the reservoir was taken from the east embankment, 
and presents a singular scene. In front are dead trees and stumps 
scattered about, and the roofs of deserted cabins rising from the 



Emlen Institute. 


water. Beyond, a cluster of green prairie grass waves in the rip¬ 
pling w r aters, while to the right and left, thousands of acres of dead 
forest trees, with no sign of life but a few scattered willows bending 
in the water, combine to give an air of wintry desolation to the scene. 
The reservoir abounds in fish and wild fo\yI, while innumerable 
frogs make the air vocal with their bellowings. The water is only 
a few feet deep, and, in storms, the waves dash up 6 or 8 feet, and 
foam like an ocean in miniature. A few years since, a steamer, 25 
feet in length, called “ the Seventy-six,” with a boiler of seventy gal¬ 
lons capacity, a pipe 4 feet in height, and commanded by Captain 
Gustavus Darnold, plied on its waters. 

In the southern part of this county is a colony of colored people, 
amounting to several hundred persons. They live principally by 
agriculture, and own extensive tracts of land in the townships of 
Granville, Franklin and Mercer. They bear a good reputation for 
morality, and manifest a laudable desire for mental improvement. 
This settlement was founded by the exertions of Mr. Augustus 
Wattles, a native of Connecticut, who, instead of merely theorizing 











356 


MIAMI COUNTY. 


upon the evils which prevent the moral and mental advancement of 
the colored race, has acted in their behalf with a philanthropic, 
Christian-like zeal, that evinces he has their real good at heart. The 
history of this settlement is given in the annexed extract of a letter 
from him. 

My early education, as you well know, would naturally lead me to look upon learning 
and good morals as of infinite importance in a land of liberty. In the winter of 1833-4, 
I providentially became acquainted with the colored population of Cincinnati, and found 
about 4,000 totally ignorant of every thing calculated to make good citizens. Most of them 
had been slaves, shut out from every avenue of moral and mental improvement. I started 
a school for them, and kept it up with 200 pupils for two years. I then proposed to the 
colored people to move into the country and purchase land, and remove from those con¬ 
taminating influences which had so long crushed them in our cities and villages. They 
promised to do so, provided I would accompany them and teach school. I travelled through 
Canada, Michigan and Indiana, looking for a suitable location, and finally settled here, 
thinking this place contained more natural advantages than any other unoccupied country 
within my knowledge. In 1835, I made the first purchase for colored people in this county. 
In about three years, they owned not far from 30,000 acres. I had travelled into almost 
every neighborhood of colored people in the state, and laid before them the benefits of a 
permanent home for themselves and of education for their children. In my first journey 
through the state, I established, by the assistance and co-operation of abolitionists, 25 schools 
for colored children. I collected of the colored people such money as they had to spare, 
and entered land for them. Many, who had no money, afterwards succeeded in raising 
some, and brought it to me. With this I bought land for them. 

I purchased for myself 190 acres of land, to establish a manual labor school for colored 
boys. I had sustained a school on it, at my own expense, till the 11th of November, 1842. 
Being in Philadelphia the winter before, I became acquainted with the trustees of the late 
Samuel Emlen, of New Jersey, a Friend. He left by his will $20,000, for the “ support 
and education in school learning and the mechanic arts and agriculture, such colored boys, 
of African and Indian descent, whose parents would give them up to the institute.” We 
united our means and they purchased my farm, and appointed me the superintendent of the 
establishment, which they call the Emlen Institute. 

In 1846, Judge Leigh, of Virginia, purchased 3,200 acres of land 
in this settlement, for the freed slaves of John Randolph, of Roanoke. 
These arrived in the summer of 1846, to the number of about 400, 
but were forcibly prevented from making a settlement by a portion 
of the inhabitants of the county. Since then, acts of hostility have 
been commenced against the people of this settlement, and threats of 
greater held out, if they do not abandon their lands and homes. 


MIAMI. 

Miami was formed from Montgomery, January 16th, 1807, and 
Staunton made the temporary seat of justice. The word Miami, 
in the Ottawa language, is said to signify mother . The name Miami , 
was originally the designation of the tribe who anciently bore the 
name of “ Tewightewee” This tribe were the original inhabitants 
of the Miami valley, and affirmed they were created in it. East 
of the Miami, the surface is gently rolling, and a large proportion 
of it a rich alluvial soil: west of the Miami, the surface is generally 
level, the soil a clay loam, and better adapted to small grain and 
grass than corn. The county abounds in excellent limestone, and 



MIAMI COUNTY. 


357 


has a large amount of water power. In agricultural resources, this 
is one of the richest counties in the state. The principal produc¬ 
tions are wheat, corn, oats, hay, pork and flax-seed. The following 
is a list of the townships in 1840, with their population. 

Bethel, 1586 Lost Creek, 1304 Spring Creek, 1501 

Brown, 1230 Monroe, 1409 Staunton, 1231 

Concord, 2408 Newburg, 1632 Union, 2221 

Elizabeth, 1398 Newton, 1242 Washington, 2642 

The population of Miami, in 1820, was 8851 ; in 1830, 12,807; 
and in 1840, 19,804, or 44 inhabitants to the square mile. 

Prior to the settlement of Ohio, Gen. George Rogers Clarke led 
an expedition from Kentucky, against the Indians in this region, an 
account of which follows, from the reminiscences of Abraham 
Thomas, originally published in the Troy Times. This Mr. Thomas, 
it is said, cut the first sapling on the site of Cincinnati: he died only 
a few years since. 

In the year 1782, after corn planting, I again volunteered in an expedition under General 
Clarke, with the object of destroying some Indian villages about Piqua, on the Great Miami 
river. On this occasion, nearly 1000 men marched out of Kentucky, by the route of Lick¬ 
ing river. We crossed the Ohio at the present site of Cincinnati, where our last year’s 
stockade had been kept up, and a few people then resided in log cabins. We proceeded 
immediately onward through the woods, without regard to our former trail, and crossed 
Mad river, not far from the present site of Dayton ; we kept up the east side of the Miami, 
and crossed it about four miles below the Piqua towns. Shortly after gaining the bottom, 
on the west side of the river, a party of Indians on horseback, with their squaws, came out 
of a trace that led to some Indian villages near the present site of Granville. They were 
going on a frolic, or pow-wow, to be held at Piqua, and had with them a Mrs. M’Fall, who 
was some time before taken prisoner from Kentucky ; the Indians escaped into the woods, 
leaving their women, with Mrs. M’Fall, to the mercy of our company. We took those 
along with us to Piqua, and Mrs. M’Fall returned to Kentucky. On arriving at Piqua, we 
found that the Indians had fled from the villages, leaving most of their effects behind. 
During the following night, I joined a party to break up an encampment of Indians, said to 
be lying about what was called the French store. We soon caught a Frenchman, tied him 
on horseback, for our guide, and arrived at the place in the night. The Indians had taken 
alarm and cleared out; we, however, broke up and burned the Frenchman’s store, [Lo- 
rime’s store, see Shelby county,] which had for a long time been a place of outfit for In¬ 
dian marauders, and returned to the main body early in the morning, many of our men 
well stocked with plunder. After burning and otherwise destroying every thing about upper 
and lower Piqua towns, we commenced our return march. 

In this attack, five Indians were killed during the night the expedition lay at Piqua ; the 
Indians lurked around the camp, firing random shots from the hazel thickets, without doing 
us any injury; but two men, who were in search of their stray horses, were fired upon and 
severely wounded: one of these died shortly after, and was buried at what is now called 
“ Coe’s Ford,” where we re-crossed the Miami, on our return. The other, Capt. M’Cracken, 
lived until we reached the site of Cincinnati, where he was buried. On this expedition, 
we had with us Capt. Barbee, afterwards Judge Barbee, one of my primitive neighbors in 
Miami county, Ohio, a most worthy and brave man, with whom I have hunted, marched 
and watched through many a long day, and finally removed with him to Ohio. 

From the “Miami County Traditions,” also published in the Troy 
Times, a few years since, we annex some reminiscences of the set¬ 
tlement of the county and its early settlers. 

Among the first settlers who established themselves in Miami county, was John Knoop. 
He removed from Cumberland county, Penn., in 1797. In the spring of that year, he 
came down the Ohio to Cincinnati, and cropped the first season on Zeigler’s stone house 
farm, four miles above Cincinnati, then belonging to John Smith. During the summer, he 
made two excursions into the Indian country, with surveying parties, and at that time 


358 


MIAMI COUNTY. 


selected the land he now owns and occupies. The forest was then full of Indians, princi¬ 
pally Shawnees, but there were small bands of Mingoes, Delawares, Miamis and Pota- 
watomies, peacefully hunting through the country. Early the next spring, in 1798, Mr. 
Knoop removed to near the present site of Staunton village, and in connection with Ben¬ 
jamin Knoop, Henry Garard, Benjamin Hamlet and John Tildus, established there a sta¬ 
tion for the security of their families. Mrs. Knoop, now living, there planted the first 
apple tree introduced into Miami county, and one is now standing in the yard of their 
house, raised from seed then planted, that measures little short of nine feet around it. * * 

The inmates of a station in the county, called the Dutch station, remained within it for 
two years, during which time they were occupied in clearing and building on their respec¬ 
tive farms. Here was born, in 1798, Jacob Knoop, the son of John Knoop, the first civil¬ 
ized native of Miami county. At this time, there were three young single men living at 
the mouth of Stoney creek, and cropping on what was afterwards called Freeman’s prairie ; 
one of these was D. H. Morris, a present resident of Bethel township ; at the same time 
there resided at Piqua, Samuel Hilliard, Job Garard, Shadrac Hudson, Jonah Rollins, Daniel 

Cox, Thomas Rich and-Hunter; these last named had removed to Piqua in 1797, 

and together with our company at the Dutch station, comprised all the inhabitants of 
Miami county, from 1797 to 1799. In the latter year, John, afterwards Judge Garard, 
Nathaniel and Abner Garard, and the year following, Uriah Blue, Joseph Coe and Abra¬ 
ham Hathaway joined us with their families. From that time, all parts of the county began 
to receive numerous immigrants. For many years, the citizens lived together on footings 
of the most social and harmonious intercourse—we were all neighbors to each other, in the 
Samaritan sense of the term—there were some speculators and property-hunters among 
us, to be sure, but not enough to disturb our tranquillity and general confidence. For many 
miles around we knew who was sick, and what ailed them, for we took a humane interest 
in the welfare of all. Many times were we called from six to eight miles to assist at a roll¬ 
ing or raising, and cheerfully lent our assistance to the task. For our accommodation, 
we sought the mill of Owen Davis, afterwards Smith’s mill, on Beaver creek, a tributary 
of the Little Miami, some 27 miles distant. Our track lay through the woods, and two 
days were consumed in the trip, when we usually took two horse-loads. Ow’en was a 
kind man, considerate of his distant customers, and would set up all night to oblige them, 
and his conduct materially abridged our mill duties. 

With the Indians, we lived on peaceable terms; sometimes, however, panics would 
spread among the women, which disturbed us a little, and occasionally we would have a 
horse or so stolen. But one man only was killed out of the settlement, from 1797 to 1811. 
This person was one Boyier, who was shot by a straggling party of Indians, supposed 
through mistake. No one, however, liked to trade with the Indians, or have any thing to 
do with them, beyond the offices of charity. 

The country all around the settlement presented the most lovely appearance, the earth 
was like an ash-heap, and nothing could exceed the luxuriance of primitive vegetation ; 
indeed, our cattle often died from excess of feeding, and it was somewhat difficult to rear 
them on that account. The white-weed or bee-harvest, as it is called, so profusely spread 
over our bottom and wood lands, was not then seen among us; the sweet annis, nettles, 
wild rye and pea-vine, now so scarce, every where abounded: they were almost the entire 
herbage of our bottoms; the two last gave subsistence to our cattle, and the first, with our 
nutritious roots, were eaten by our swine with the greatest avidity. In the spring and sum¬ 
mer months, a drove of hogs could be scented at a considerable distance, from their flavor 
of the annis root. Our winters were as cold, but more steady than at present. Snow 
generally covered the ground, and drove our stock to the barn-yard, for three months, and 
this was all the trouble we had with them. Buffalo signs were frequently met with ; but 
the animals had entirely disappeared before the first white inhabitant came into the country ; 
but other game was abundant. As many as thirty deer have been counted at one time, 
around the bayous and ponds near Staunton. The hunter had his full measures of sport, 
when he chose to indulge in the chase ; but ours was essentially an agricultural settlement. 
From the coon to the buck-skin embraced our circulating medium. Our imported com¬ 
modities were first purchased at Cincinnati, then at Dayton, and finally, Peter Felix es¬ 
tablished an Indian merchandizing store at Staunton, and this was our first attempt in that 
way of traffick. For many years we had no exports but skins ; yet wheat was steady at 50 
cents, and corn at 25 cents per bushel; the latter, however, has since fallen as low as 12^ 
cents, and a dull market. 

For some time, the most popular milling was at Patterson’s, below Dayton, and with 
Owen Davis, on Beaver; but the first mill in Miami county is thought to have been erected 
by John Manning, on Piqua bend. Nearly the same time, Henry Garard erected on Spring 



MIAMI COUNTY, 


359 


creek, a corn and saw mill, on land now included within the farm of Col. Winans. It is 
nariated by the Colonel, and is a fact worthy of notice, that on the first establishment of 
these mills, they would run ten months in a year, and sometimes longer, by heads. The 
creek would not now turn one pair of stones two months in a year, and then only on the 
recurrence of freshets. It is thought this remark is applicable to all streams of the upper 
Miami valley, showing there is less spring drainage from the country, since it has become 
cleared of its timber, and consolidated by cultivation. * * * * 



View in Troy. 


Troy, the county seat, is a beautiful and flourishing village, in a 
highly cultivated and fertile country, upon the west bank of the 
Great Miami, 70 miles north of Cincinnati and 68 west of Columbus. 
It was laid out about the year 1808, as the county seat, which was 
first at Staunton, a mile east, and now containing but a few houses. 
Troy is regularly laid off into broad and straight streets, crossing 
each other at right angles, and contains about 550 dwellings. The 
view was taken in the principal street of the town, and shows, on the 
right, the court house and town hall, between which, in the distance, 
appear the spires of the New School Presbyterian and Episcopal 
churches. It contains 2 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal Methodist, 1 
Wesleyan do., 1 Episcopal and 1 Baptist church, a market, a branch 
of the state bank, 2 newspaper printing offices, 1 town and 1 ma¬ 
sonic hall, 1 academy, 3 flouring and 5 saw mills, 1 foundery, 1 ma¬ 
chine shop, 1 shingle and 1 plow factory, and a large number of 
stores and mechanic shops. Its population in 1840, was 1351 ; it 
has since more than doubled, and is constantly increasing. It is con¬ 
nected with Cincinnati, Urbana and Greenville, by turnpikes. 

The line of the Miami canal, from Cincinnati, passes through the 
town from south to north; on it are six large and commodious 
warehouses, for receiving and forwarding produce and merchandize, 
and three more, still larger, are in progress of erection, and four 
smaller, for supplying boats with provisions and other necessaries. 
The business done during the current year, ending June 1st, 1847, 
in thirty of the principal business houses, in the purchase of goods, 


















360 


MIAMI COUNTY. 


produce and manufactures, amounts to $523,238, and the sales to 
$674,307. The articles bought and sold, are as follows: 174,000 
bushels of wheat, 290,000 bushels of corn, 100,000 bushels of rye, 
barley and oats, 17,000 bbls. whiskey, 17,000 bbls. flour, 1,300 bbls. 
pork, 5,000 hogs, 31,000 lbs. butter, 2,000 bushels clover seed, 600 
bbls. fish, 3,000 bbls. salt, 30,000 bushels flax seed, 304,000 lbs. bulk 
pork, 136,000 lbs. lard, 1,440 thousand feet of sawed lumber, &lc. 

The shipments to and from the place, are about 20,000 tons. 

There is an extensive hydraulic power here, not yet brought into 
use, which has recently been purchased by one of the most wealthy 
and enterprising citizens of the place, who is now maturing arrange¬ 
ments to bring it into immediate and extensive use, for manufacturing 
purposes. 



View of Piqua. 

Piqua is another beautiful and thriving town, 8 miles above Troy, 
and also on the river and canal. It was laid out in 1809, by Messrs. 
Brandon and Manning, under the name of Washington, which it bore 
for many years. The town plot contains an area of more than a mile 
square, laid out in uniform blocks, with broad and regular streets. 
On the north and east, and opposite the town, are the villages of Ross- 
ville and Huntersville, connected with it by bridges across the Miami. 

It contains 1 New and 1 Old School Presbyterian, 1 Methodist 
Episcopal, 1 Methodist Wesleyan, 1 Episcopal, 1 Baptist, 1 Asso¬ 
ciate Reformed, 1 Lutheran, 1 Catholic and 1 Disciples church; 1 
high school, a town hall, and a branch of the state bank. The man¬ 
ufacturing facilities in it and vicinity are extensive. The Miami 
furnishes power for 1 wool carding and fulling factory, 3 saw-mills, 
1 grist mill adjacent to the town, and a saw and grist mill, with an 
oil mill, below the town. The water of the canal propels a saw mill, 
a clothing and fulling factory, with a grist mill. A steam saw mill, 
a steam grist mill and tannery, with 2 steam iron turning and ma- 


























MIAMI COUNTY. 


361 


chine establishments, constitute, with the rest, the amount of steam 
and hydraulic power used. With these, are over 100 mechanical 
and manufacturing establishments in the town, among which are 25 
coopers’ shops—that business being very extensively carried on. 
There are also 15 grocery and variety stores, 12 dry goods, 3 leather, 
1 book and 3 hardware stores, a printing office, 4 forwarding and 3 
pork houses; and the exports and imports, by the canal, are very 
heavy. South of the town are seven valuable quarries of blue lime¬ 
stone, at which are employed a large number of hands, and adjacent 
to the town is a large boat yard. 

In the town are 600 dwellings, many of which are of brick, and 
have fine gardens attached. Along the canal, has lately been erected 
a number of 3 story brick buildings for business purposes, and the 
number of business houses is 98. During the year 1846, eighty 
buildings were erected, and the value of real estate at that time was 
$476,000. 

The population of Piqua, in 1830, was less than 500; in 1840, 
1480; and in 1847, 3100. 

The Miami river curves beautifully around the town, leaving be¬ 
tween it and the village a broad and level plateau, while the oppo¬ 
site bank rises abruptly into a hill, called “ Cedar Bluff,” affording 
fine walks, and a commanding view of the surrounding country. In 
its vicinity are some ancient works. From near its base, on the east 
bank of the river, the view was taken. The church spires shown, 
commencing on the right, are respectively, the Episcopal, Catholic, 
New School Presbyterian, Wesleyan Methodist, Old School Presby¬ 
terian and Baptist; the town hall is seen on the left. From the 
Miami county traditions, we annex some facts respecting the history 
of Piqua. 

Jonathan Rollins was among the first white inhabitants of Miami county. In connec¬ 
tion with nine others, he contracted with Judge Symmes, for a certain compensation in lots 
and land, to become a pioneer in laying out a proposed town in the Indian country, at the 
lower Piqua village, where is situated the pleasant and flourishing town under that name. 
The party left Ludlow station, on Mill Creek, in the spring of 1797, and proceeded without 
difficulty to the proposed site. They there erected cabins, and enclosed grounds for fields 
and gardens. But the judge failing in some of his calculations, was unable to fulfill his part 
of the contract; and the other parties to it gradually withdrew from the association, and 
squatted around on public land, as best pleased themselves. It was some years after this, 
when land could be regularly entered in the public offices ; surveying parties had been run¬ 
ning out the county, but time was required to organize the newly introduced section system, 
which has since proved so highly beneficial to the western states, and so fatal to professional 
cupidity. 

Some of these hardy adventurers settled in and about Piqua, where they have left many 
worthy descendants. Mr. Rollins finally took up land on Spring Creek, where he laid out 
the farm he now occupies. While this party resided at Piqua, and for years after, the In¬ 
dians were constant visitors and sojourners among them. This place appears to have been, 
to that unfortunate race, a most favorite residence, around which their attachments and re¬ 
grets lingered to the last. They would come here to visit the graves of their kindred, and 
weep over the sod that entombed the bones of their fathers. They would sit in melancholy 
groups, surveying the surrounding objects of their earliest attachments and childhood sports— 
the winding river, which witnessed their first feeble essays with the gig and the paddle— 
the trees where first they triumphed with their tiny bow, in their boastful craft of the hunter— 
the coppice of their nut gatherings—the lawns of their boyhood sports, and haunts of their 

46 


362 


MIAMI COUNTY. 


early loves, would call forth bitter sighs and reproaches on that civilization, which, in its 
rudest features, was uprooting them from their happy home. 

The Indians at Piqua soon found, in the few whites among them, stern and inflexible 
masters, rather than associates and equals. Upon the slightest provocation, the discipline of 
the fist and club, so humbling to the spirits of an Indian, was freely used upon them. One 
day, an exceedingly large Indian had been made drunk, and for some past offense took it 
in his head to kill one of his wives. He was following her with a knife and tomahawk, 
around their cabin, with a posse of clamorous squaws and pappooses at his heels, who were 
striving tb check his violence. They had succeeded in wresting from him his arms, and 
he was standing against the cabin, when several of the white men, attracted by the outcry, 
approached the group. One of them, small in stature, but big in resolution, made through 
the Indian crowd to the offender, struck him in the face, and felled him to the ground, while 
the surrounding Indians looked on in fixed amazement. 

“ The word Piqua is the name of one of the Shawanoese tribes, and 
signifies, “ a man formed out of the ashes.” The tradition is, that the 
whole Shawanoese tribe, a long time ago, were assembled at their 
annual feast and thanksgiving. They were all seated around a large 



View at Upper Piqua. 


fire, which having burnt down, a great puffing was observed in the 
ashes, when behold ! a full formed man came up out of the coals and 
ashes; and this was the first man of the Piqua tribe. After the 
peace of 1763, the Miamis having removed from the Big Miami river, 
a body of Shawanoes established themselves at lower and upper 
Piqua, which became their great head quarters in Ohio. Here they 
remained, until driven off by the Kentuckians, when they crossed 
ovei to St. Maiy s and to W^apaghkonetta. The Upper Piqua is said 
to have contained, at one period, near 4000 Shawanoese. The Shaw¬ 
anoese were formerly a numerous people, and very warlike. We 
can trace their history to the time of their residence on the tide wa¬ 
ters of Florida, and as well as the Delawares, they aver that they 
originally came from west of the Mississippi. Black Hoof, who died 
at Wapaghkonetta, at the advanced age of 105 years, told me that 
he remembered, when a boy, bathing in the salt waters of Florida: 
that his people firmly believed white or civilized people had been in 
the country before them—having found, in many instances, the marks 

















MIAMI COUNTY. 


363 


of iron tools, axes upon trees and stumps, over which the sand had 
blown. Shawanoese means “the south ” or “people from the 
south.”* r 

Upper Piqua, three miles n. of Piqua, on the canal and Miami 
river, is a locality of much historic interest. It is, at present, the 
residence of Col. John Johnston—shown in the view—and was once 
a favorite dwelling place of the Piqua tribe of the Shawanoese. Col. 
Johnston, now at an advanced age, has for the greater part of his 
life resided at the west, as an agent of the U. S. government over 
the Indians. His mild and parental care of their interests, gave him 
great influence over them, winning their strongest affections, and 
causing them to regard him in the light of a father. To him we are 
indebted for many valuable facts, scattered through this volume, as 
well as those which follow respecting this place. 

In the French war, which ended with the peace of 1763, a bloody battle was fought on 
the present farm of Col. Johnston, at Upper Piqua. At that time, the Miamis had their 
towns here, which are marked on ancient maps, “ Tewightewee towns.” The Miamis, 
Wyandots, Ottowas, and other northern tribes, adhered to the French, made a stand here, 
and fortified—the Canadian traders and French assisting. The Delawares, Shawanoes, 
Munseys, part of the Senecas residing in Pennsylvania, Cherokees, Catawbas, &.C., adher¬ 
ing to the English interest, with the English traders, attacked the French and Indians. The 
siege continued for more than a week ; the fort stood out, and could not be taken. Many 
were slain, the assailants suffering most severely. The besieged lost a number, and all their 
exposed property was burnt and destroyed. The Shawanoese chief, Blackhoof, one of the 
besiegers, informed Col. Johnston that the ground around was strewed with bullets, so that 
baskets full could have been gathered. 

Soon after this contest, the Miamis and their allies left this part of the country, and re¬ 
tired to the Miami of the Lake, at and near Fort Wayne, and never returned. The Shaw¬ 
anoese took their place, and gave names to towns in this vicinity. Col. Johnston’s place, 
“ and the now large and flourishing town of Piqua, was called Chillicothe, after the tribe of 
that name ; the site of his farm, after the Piqua tribe.” 

Fort Piqua, erected prior to the settlement of the country, stood at Upper Piqua, on the 
west bank of the river, near where the figure is seen in the distance, on the right of the en¬ 
graving. It was designed as a place of deposit for stores for the army of Wayne. The 
portage from here to Fort Loramie, 14 miles, thence to St. Mary’s, 12 miles, was all the 
land carriage from the Ohio to Lake Erie. Loaded boats frequently ascended to Fort Lo¬ 
ramie, the loading taken out and hauled to St. Mary’s, the boats also moved across on 
wheels, again loaded, and launched for Fort Wayne, Defiance and the lake. Sometimes, 
in very high water, loaded boats from the Ohio approached within six miles of St. Mary’s. 
Before the settlement of the country, a large proportion of the army supplies were conveyed 
up this river. When mill dams were erected, the navigation was destroyed, and boating 
ceased. 

In 1794, Capt. J. N. Vischer, the last commandant of Fort Piqua, was stationed here. 
During that year, two freighted boats, guarded by an officer and 23 men, were attacked by 
the Indians near the fort, and the men all massacred. Capt. Vischer heard the firing, but 
from the weakness of his command, could render no assistance. The plan of the Indians 
doubtless was, to make the attack in hearing of the fort, and thereby induce them to sally 
out in aid of their countrymen, defeat all, and take the fort. The commander was a dis¬ 
creet officer, and aware of the subtleness of the enemy, had the firmness to save the fort. 

The family of Col. Johnston settled at Upper Piqua in 1811, the previous 11 years having 
been spent at Fort Wayne. Years after the destruction of the boats and party on the river, 
fragments of muskets, bayonets, and other remains of that disaster, were found at low wa¬ 
ter, imbedded in the sand. The track of the pickets, the form of the river bastion, the foun¬ 
dation of chimneys in the block-houses, still mark the site of Fort Piqua. The plow has 
levelled the graves of the brave men—for many sleep here—who fell in the service. At 
this place, Fort Loramie, St. Mary’s, and Fort Wayne, large numbers of the regulars and 
militia volunteers were buried, in the wars of Wayne, as well as in the last war. 


* Col. John Johnston. 



364 


MIAMI COUNTY, 


In the late war, the far greater number of Indians who remained friendly, and claimed 
and received protection from the United States, were placed under the care of Col. 
Johnston, at Piqua. These were the Shawanoes, Delawares, Wyandots in part, Ottowas 
in part, part of the Senecas, all the Munseys, and Mohicans; a small number remained at 
Zanesfield, and some at Upper Sandusky, under Maj. B. F. Stickney, now of Toledo. The 
number here amounted, at one period, to six thousand, and were doubtless the best pro¬ 
tection to the frontier. With a view of detaching the Indians here from the American inte¬ 
rest, and taking them off to the enemy, and knowing that so long as Col. Johnston lived this 
could not be accomplished, several plots were contrived to assassinate him. His life was in 
the utmost danger. He arose many mornings, with but little hope of living until night, and 
the friendly chiefs often warned him of his danger; but he was planted at the post; duty, 
honor, and the safety of the frontier, forbade his abandoning it. His faithful wife staid by 
him ; the rest of his family, papers and valuable effects, were removed to a place of greater 
security. On one occasion, his escape seemed miraculous. 

Near the house, at the road side, by which he daily several times passed in visiting the 
Indian camp, was a cluster of wild plum bushes. No one would have suspected hostile In¬ 
dians to secrete themselves there ; yet there the intended assassins waited to murder him, 
which they must have soon accomplished, had they not been discovered by some Delaware 
women, who gave the alarm. The Indians—three in number—fled ; a party pursued, but 
lost the trail. It afterwards appeared that they went up the river some distance, crossed to 
the east side, and passing down nearly opposite his residence, determined, in being foiled of 
their chief prize, not to return empty handed. They killed Mr. Dilbone and his wife, who 
were in a field, pulling flax: their children, who were with them, escaped by secreting them¬ 
selves in the weeds. From thence, the Indians went lower down, three miles, to Loss 
Creek, where they killed David Garrard, who was at work a short distance from his house. 
The leader of the party, Pash-e-towa, was noted for his cold-blooded cruelty, and a short 
time previous, was the chief actor in destroying upwards of 20 persons—mostly women and 
children—at a place called Pigeon Roost, Indiana. He was killed, after the war, by one of 
his own people, in satisfaction for the numerous cruelties he had committed on unoffending 
persons.* 

In the war of 1812, nothing w T as more embarrassing to the public agents, than the man¬ 
agement of the Indians on the frontier. President Madison, from a noble principle, which 
does his memory high honor, positively refused to employ them in the war, and this was a 
cause of all the losses in the country adjacent to the upper lakes. Having their families in pos¬ 
session, the agents could have placed implicit confidence in the fidelity of the warriors. As it 
was, they had to manage them as they best could. Col. Johnston frequently furnished them 
with white flags, with suitable mottoes, to enable them to pass out-posts and scouts in safety. 
On one occasion,' the militia basely fired on one of these parties, bearing a flag hoisted in 
full view. They killed two Indians, wounded a third, took the survivors prisoners, and 
after robbing them of all they possessed, conveyed them to the garrison at Greenville, to 
which post the party belonged. On reflection, they were ^convinced they had committed an 
unjustifiable act, and became alarmed for the consequences. They brought the prisoners to 
Upper Piqua, and delivered them to Col. Johnston. He took them, wishing to do the best 
in his power for the Indians, and on deliberation, decided to conduct them back to Green¬ 
ville, and restore them, with their property, to their people. Application was made by Col. 
Johnston, to the officer commanding at Piqua, for a guard on the journey. These were 
Ohio militia, of whom not a man or officer dared to go. He then told the commander, if 
he would accompany him, he would go at all hazards, the distance being 25 miles, the road 
entirely uninhabited, and known to be infested with Indians, who had recently killed two 
girls near Greenville. But he alike refused. All his appeals to the pride and patriotism of 
officers and men proving unavailing, he decided to go alone, it being a case that required 
the promptest action, to prevent evil impressions spreading among the Indians. He got his 


* Although Col. Johnston escaped death by the calamities of war, his immediaterelations 
have been sufferers. His brother was killed by the Indians, and his scalp sold to M’Kee, 
Girty, or some other of the American renegadoes, who allied with the British and Indians 
against their own country. By a newspaper received this day, we also learn that his son, 
Capt. Abm. R. Johnston, of the 1st regiment U. S. dragoons, and aid to Gen. Kearney, was 
killed at the recent battle of San Pasqual, in California, while gallantly leading a furious 
charge against the enemy. This gentleman was born at Piqua, May 23d, 1815, graduated 
first at Miami University, and afterwards at West Point; entered the army, and was pro¬ 
moted to a captaincy, June 30, 1846, and was killed on the 6th of December following. 
He was a ripe scholar, and possessed noble qualities of character. 



MONROE COUNTY. 


365 


horse ready, bade farewell to his wife, scarcely ever expecting to see her again, and reached 
Greenville in safety ; procured nearly all the articles taken from the Indians, and delivered 
them back, made them a speech, dismissed them, and then springing on his horse, started 
back alone, and reached his home in safety, to the surprise of all, particularly the militia, 
who, dastardly fellows, scarce expected to see him alive, and made many apologies for their 
cowardice. 

During the war. Col. Johnston had many proofs of the fidelity of some of the friendly Indians. 
After the surrender of Detroit, the frontier of Ohio was thrown into the greatest terror and 
confusion. A large body of Indians still resided within its limits, accessible to the British. 
In the garrison of Fort Wayne, which was threatened, were many women and children, 
who, in case of attack, would have been detrimental to its defence, and it therefore became 
necessary to have them speedily removed. Col. Johnston assembled the Shawanee chiefs, 
and stating the case, requested volunteers to bring the women and children at Fort Wayne 
to Piqua. Logan (see p. 303) immediately arose and offered his services, and soon started 
with a party of mounted Indians, all volunteers. They reached the post, received their in¬ 
teresting and helpless charge, and safely brought them to the settlements, through a country 
infested with marauding bands of hostile savages. The women spoke in the highest terms 
of the vigilance, care and delicacy of their faithful conductors. 

Covington, 6 miles westerly from Piqua, is a flourishing town, on 
Stillwater creek, which winds through a beautiful and fertile coun¬ 
try. It contains 2 churches, 6 stores, and had, in 1840, 331 inhab¬ 
itants. Milton, a flourishing village, 10 miles sw. of Troy, on Still¬ 
water creek, at which point there is much hydraulic power, contains 
1 or 2 churches, 4 stores, several mills and factories, and had, in 
1840, ^42 inhabitants. Fletcher, West Charleston, Cass, Hyatts- 
ville, and Tippecanoe, are small villages. 


MONROE. 

Monroe was named from James Monroe, president of the United 
States from 1817 to 1825; was formed, January 29th, 1813, from 
Belmont, Washington and Gurnsey. The south and east part is 
very hilly and rough; the north and west moderately hilly. Some 
of the western portion and the valleys are fertile. Coal of an ex¬ 
cellent quality abounds in the western part, and iron ore is found. 
The staples are wheat, corn, pork and tobacco; of which last there 
is, with two exceptions, more raised than in any other county in 
Ohio. The following is a list of the townships, in 1840, with their 


Adams, 

897 

Jackson, 

806 

Sunbury, 

1358 

Bethel, 

545 

Malaga, 

1443 

Switzerland, 

983 

Elk, 

535 

Ohio, 

907 

Union, 

1351 

Enoch, 

1135 

Perry, 

980 

Washington, 

533 

Franklin, 

1144 

Salem, 

910 

Wayne, 

684 

Green, 

938 

Seneca, 

1349 




The population of Monroe in 1820, was 4645; in 1830, 8770, and 
in 1840, 18,544, or 33 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The principal portion of the population originated from western 
Pennsylvania, with some western Virginians and a few New Eng : 
landers; one township is settled by Swiss, among whom are some 
highly educated men. The inhabitants are moral and industrious, 



366 


MONROE COUNTY. 


and, to the honor of the county, a capital crime has never been com¬ 
mitted within it. 

The valleys of the streams are narrow and are bounded by lofty 
and rough hills. In many of the little ravines putting into the val¬ 
leys, the scenery is in all the wildness of untamed nature. In places, 
they are precipitous and scarcely accessible to the footsteps of man, 
and often for many hundred yards the rocks bounding these gorges 
hang over some 30 or 40 feet, forming natural grottoes, of sufficient 
capacity to shelter many hundreds of persons, and enhancing the 
gloomy, forbidding character of the scenery. 

The annexed historical sketch of the county, is from Daniel H. 
Wire, Esq., of Woodsfield. 

The first settlement in the county was near the mouth of Sunfish, about the year 1799. 
This settlement consisted of a few families whose chief aim was to locate on the best hunt¬ 
ing ground. A few years after, three other small settlements were made. The first was 
near where the town of Beallsville now stands ; the second on the Clear fork of Little 
Muskingum, consisting of Martin Crow, Fred. Crow, and two or three other families; and 
the third was on the east fork of Duck creek, where some three or four families of the 
name of Archer settled. Not long after this, the settlements began to spread, and the pio¬ 
neers were forced to see the bear and the wolf leave, and make way for at least more 
friendly neighbors, though perhaps less welcome. The approach of new comers was al¬ 
ways looked upon with suspicion, as this was the signal for the game to leave. A neighbor 
at the distance of ten miles was considered near enough for all social purposes. The 
first object of a newcomer after selecting a location, and putting the “hoppers” on the 
horse,—if he had any,—was to cut some poles or logs, and build a cabin of suitable di¬ 
mensions for the size of his family ; for as yet, rank and condition had not disturbed the 
simple order of society. 

The windows of the cabin were made by sawing out about three feet of one of the logs, 
and putting in a few upright pieces; and in the place of glass, they took paper and oiled 
it with bear’s oil, or hog’s fat, and pasted it on the upright pieces. This would give con¬ 
siderable light and resist the rain tolerably well. After the cabin was completed, the next 
thing in order was to clear out a piece of ground for a corn patch. They plowed their 
ground generally with a shovel plow, as this was most convenient among the roots. Their 
harness consisted mostly of leather-wood bark, except the collar, which was made of husks 
of corn platted and sewed together. They ground their corn in a hand-mill or pounded 
it in a mortar, or hommony block, as it was called, which was made by burning a hole into 
the end of a block of wood. They pounded the corn in these mortars with a pestle, which 
they made by driving an iron wedge into a stick of suitable size. After the corn was suffi¬ 
ciently pounded, they sieved it, and took the finer portion for meal to make bread and 
mush of, and the coarser they boiled for hommony. Their meat was bear, venison and 
wild-turkey, as it was very difficult to raise hogs or sheep on account of the wolves and 
bear; and hence pork and woollen clothes were very scarce. 

The mischievous depredations of the wolves, rendered their scalps a matter of some im¬ 
portance. They were worth from four to six dollars a piece. This made wolf-hunting 
rather of a lucrative business, and of course called into action the best inventive talent in 
the country ; consequently many expedients and inventions were adopted, one of which 
I will give. The hunter took the ovary of a slut—at a particular time—and rubbed it on 
the soles of his shoes, then circling through the forest where the wolves were most plenty, 
the male wolves would follow his track ; as they approached he would secrete himself in a 
suitable place, and as soon as the wolf came in reach of the rifle, he received its contents. 
This plan was positively practiced, and was one of the most effectual modes of hunting 
the wolf. A Mr. Terrel, formerly of this place, was hunting wolves in this way, not far 
from where Woodsfield stands. He found himself closely pursued by a number of wolves, 
and soon discovered from their angry manner, that they intended to attack him. He got 
up into the top of a leaning tree, and shot four of them before they would leave him. This 
is the only instance of the wolves attacking any person in this section of country. Hunt¬ 
ers, the better to elude, especially the ever-watchful eye of the deer and turkey, had their 
hunting shirts colored to suit the season. In the fall of the year, they wore the color most 
resembling the fallen leaves j in the winter they used a brown, as near as possible the color 


MONROE COUNTY. 


367 


of the bark of trees. If there was snow on the ground, they frequently drew a white shirt 
over their other clothes. In the summer they colored their clothes green. 

In addition to what has already been said, it may not be improper to give a few things 
in relation to the social intercourse of the early settlers. And first, I would remark on 
good authority, that a more generous, warm-hearted and benevolent people, seldom have 
existed in any country. Although they were unwilling to see the game driven off by the 
rapid influx of emigrants ; still the stranger, when he arrived among the hardy pioneers, 
found among them a cordiality, and a generous friendship, that is not found among those 
who compose, what is erroneously called, the better class of society, or the higher circle. 
There was no distinction in society, no aristocratic lines drawn between the upper and 
lower classes. Their social amusements proceeded from matters of necessity. A log 
rolling, or the raising of a log cabin, was generally accompanied with a quilting, or some¬ 
thing of the sort, and this brought together a whole neighborhood of both sexes, and after 
the labors of the day were ended, they spent the larger portion of the night in dancing 
and other innocent amusements. If they had no fiddler, (which was not very uncommon,) 
some one of the company would supply the deficiency by singing. A wedding frequently 
called together all the young folks for fifteen or twenty miles around. These occasions were 
truly convivial; the parties assembled on the wedding day at the house of the bride, and 
after the nuptials were celebrated, they enjoyed all manner of rural hilarity, and most gen¬ 
erally dancing formed a part, unless the old folks had religious scruples as to its propriety. 
About 10 o’clock the bride was allowed to retire by her attendants ; and if the groom could 
steal off from his attendants and retire also, without their knowledge, they became the 
objects of sport for all the company, and were not a little quizzed. The next day the party 
repaired to the house of the groom to enjoy the infair. When arrived within a mile or 
two of the house, a part of the company would run for the bottle, and whoever had the 
fleetest horse, succeeded in getting the bottle, which was alway ready at the house of the 
groom. The successful racer carried back the liquor, and met the rest of the company 
and treated them, always taking good care to treat the bride and groom first; he then be¬ 
came the hero of that occasion, at least. 

There are but few incidents relative to the Indian war which took place in this county, 
worthy of notice. When Martin Whetzel was a prisoner among the Indians, they brought 
him about twenty miles (as he supposed) up Sunfish creek. This would be some place 
near Woodsfield. Whetzel says they stopped under a large ledge of rocks, and left a guard 
with him, and went off; and after having been gone about an hour, they returned with 
a large quantity of lead, and moulded a great number of bullets. They fused the lead in 
a large wooden ladle, which they had hid in the rocks. They put the metal in the ladle, 
and by burning live coals on it, succeeded in fusing it. After Whetzel escaped from the 
Indians and returned home, he visited the place in search of the lead, but could never find 
it. In fact, he was not certain that he had found the right rock. 

At the battle of Captina, (see page 55,) John Baker was killed. He had borrowed 
Jack Bean’s gun, which the Indians had taken. This gun was recaptured on the waters of 
Wills creek, about sixteen or eighteen miles west of Woodsfield, and still remains in the 
possession of some of the friends of the notorious Bean and the lamented Baker, in this 
county, as a memorial of those brave Indian fighters. Henry Johnson, (see page 269,) 
who had the fight with the Indians, when a boy, is now living in the county. 

In the latter part of the last century, the celebrated French trav¬ 
eller, Volney, travelled through Virginia, and crossed the Ohio into 
this county from Sistersville. He was under the guidance of two Vir¬ 
ginia bear hunters through the wilderness. The weather was very 
cold and severe. In crossing the dry ridge, on the Virginia side, 
the learned infidel became weak with cold and fatigue. He was in 
the midst of an almost boundless wilderness, deep snows were under 
his feet, and both rain and snow falling upon his head ; he frequently 
insisted on giving over the enterprize and dying where he was, but 
his comrades, more accustomed to backwoods fare, urged him on, 
until he at length gave out, exclaiming, “Oh, wretched and foolish 
man that I am, to leave my comfortable home and fireside, and come 
to this unfrequented place, where the lion and tiger refuse to dwell, 
and the rain hurries off! Go on my friends ! better that one man 


368 


MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 


should perish than three.” They then stopped, struck a fire, built a 
camp of bark and limbs, shot a buck, broiled the ham, which, with 
the salt, bread and other necessaries they had, made a very good 
supper, and every thing being soon comfortable and cheery, the 
learned Frenchman was dilating largely and eloquently upon the 
ingenuity of man. 



View in Woodsfield. 

Woodsfield, the county seat, 118 miles easterly from Columbus, 
and 18 from the Ohio river, was founded in 1815, by Archibald 
Woods, of Wheeling, George Paul, Benj. Ruggles and Levi Barber. 
It contains 1 Episcopal Methodist and 1 Protestant Methodist church, 
a classical academy, 1 newspaper printing office, 6 stores, and had 
in 1830, 157 inhabitants, and in 1840, 262; estimated population in 
1847, 450. The view was taken in the principal street of the vil¬ 
lage, on the left of which is seen the court house. At the foot of the 
street, on the left, but not shown in the view, is a natural mound, 
circular at the base and rising to the height of 60 feet. 

Beallsville, 9 miles ne. of Woodsfield, contains 1 Methodist, 1 
Presbyterian and 1 Disciples church. It had in 1840, 194 inhabi¬ 
tants; estimated population in 1847, 350. Mr. Beall and John 
Lynn, were the original proprietors. Clarington, at the mouth of 
Sunfish, was laid out by Daniel Person, and contains 1 Disciples 
church, and about 300 inhabitants. Malaga, Milton, Calais, Sum- 
merfield, Carlisle, Graysville and Antioch, are smaller places. 


MONTGOMERY. 

Montgomery was named from Gen. Richard Montgomery, of the 
American revolutionary army ; he was born in Ireland, in 1737, and 
was killed in the assault upon Quebec, Dec. 31st, 1775. This county 
was created, May 1st, 1803, from Hamilton and Ross, and the tem¬ 
porary seat of justice appointed at the house of George Newcom, in 
Dayton. About one-half of the county is rolling and the rest level; 











MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 


369 


Perry, 1883 

Randolph, 1774 

Washington, 2259 

Wayne, 1045 


the soil of an excellent quality, clay predominating. East of the 
Miami, are many excellent limestone quarries, of a greyish white 
hue. Large quantities are exported to Cincinnati, where it is used 
in constructing the most elegant edifices; nearly all the canal locks 
from Cincinnati to Toledo are built with it. This, excepting Ham¬ 
ilton, is the greatest manufacturing county in Ohio, and abundance 
of water power is furnished by its various streams. Montgomery 
has more turnpike macadamized roads, than any other county in the 
state, and is one of the wealthiest and most densely populated. The 
principal products are corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley, flaxseed, pota¬ 
toes, pork, wool and tobacco. The following is a list of the town¬ 
ships in 1840, with their population. 

Butler, 1897 Jackson, 1688 

Clay, 1633 Jefferson, 1895 

Dayton, 10334 Madison, 1594 

German, 2629 Miami, 3249 

The population of Montgomery in 1820, was 16,061 ; in 1830, 
24,374, and in 1840, 31,879, or 79 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The thriving city of Dayton is in this county. This is a beautiful 
town. It is regularly laid out, the streets are of an unusual width, 
and much taste is displayed in the private residences : many of them 
are large and are ornamented by fine gardens and shrubbery. The 
following sketch is from a resident.* 

Dayton, the county seat, is situated on the east side of the Great 
Miami, at the mouth of Mad river, and 1 mile below the southwest 
branch. It is 67 miles westerly from Columbus, 52 from Cincinnati 
and 110 from Indianapolis. The point at which Dayton stands was 
selected, in 1788, by some gentlemen, who designed laying out a 
town by the name of Venice. They agreed with John Cleves 
Symmes, whose contract with congress then covered the site of the 
place, for the purchase of the lands. But the Indian wars which en¬ 
sued, prevented the extension of settlements from the immediate 
neighborhood of Cincinnati, for some years: and the project was 
abandoned by the purchasers. Soon after Wayne’s treaty, in 1795, 
a new company, composed of Generals Jonathan Dayton, Arthur 
St. Clair, James Wilkinson and Col. Israel Ludlow, purchased the 
lands between the Miamis, around the mouth of Mad river' of Judge 
Symmes, and on the 4th of November, laid out the town. Ar¬ 
rangements were made for its settlement in the ensuing spring, and 
donations of lots were offered, with other privileges, to actual set¬ 
tlers. Forty-six persons entered into engagements to remove from 
Cincinnati to Dayton, but during the winter most of them scattered 
in different directions, and only 19 fulfilled their engagements 
The first families who made a permanent residence in the place, ar¬ 
rived on the 1st day of April, 1796. The first 19 settlers of Dayton, 
were Wm. Gahagan, Samuel Thomson, Benj. Van Cleve, Wm. Van 
Cleve, Solomon Goss, Thomas Davis, John Davis, James M’Clure, 


* J. W. Van Cleve, Esq. 
47 




370 


MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



John M’Clure, Daniel Ferrell, William Hamer, Solomon Hamer, 
Thomas Hamer, Abraham Glassmire, John Dorough, William 
Chenoweth, James Morris, William Newcom and George Newcom, 
the last of whom is still a resident of the place, and the only survivor 
of the whole number. 


View in Dayton. 

[The above view was taken near the corner of First and Ludlow streets. In front is 
shown the elegant residence of J. D. Phillips, Esq., and the First Presbyterian church ; oil 
the left, the cupola of the new court house and the spires of the German Reformed and 
Second Presbyterian churches appear.] 

Judge Symmes was unable to complete his payments for all the 
lands he had agreed to purchase of the government, and those lying 
about Dayton reverted to the United States, by which the settlers 
were left without titles to their lots. Congress, however, passed a 
pre-emption law, under which those who had contracted for lands 
with Symmes and his associates, had a right to enter the same lots 
or lands at government price. Some of the settlers entered their 
lots, and obtained titles directly from the United States; and others 
made an arrangement with Daniel C. Cooper, to receive their deeds 
from him, and he entered the residue of the town lands. He had been 
a surveyor and agent for the first company of proprietors, and they 
assigned him certain of their rights of pre-emption, by which he be¬ 
came the titular proprietor of the town. He died in 1818, leaving 
two sons, who have both since died without children. 

In 1803, on the organization of the state government, Montgom¬ 
ery county was established. Dayton was made the seat of justice, 
at which time only five families resided in the town, the other set¬ 
tlers having gone on to farms in the vicinity, or removed to other 
parts of the country. The increase of the town was gradual, until 
the war of 1812, which made a thoroughfare for the troops and 

















MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 


371 


stores on their way to the frontier. Its progress was then more 
rapid until 1820, when the depression of business put an almost 
total check to its increase. The commencement of the Miami canal, 
in 1827, renewed its prosperity, and its increase has been steady 
and rapid ever since. By the assessment of 1846, it is the second 
city in the state in the amount of taxable property, as the county 
also stands second. 



The Cooper Female Academy. 

[The Cooper Female Academy in Dayton, is a highly flourishing institution in excellent 
repute. Mr. E. E. Barney is the principal, under whom are 7 assistants and 174 pupils.] 

The first canal boat from Cincinnati arrived at Dayton on the 
25th of January, 1829, and the first one from Lake Erie on the 24th 
of June, 1845. In 1825, a weekly line of mail stages was estab¬ 
lished through Dayton from Cincinnati to Columbus. Two days 
were occupied in coming from Cincinnati to this place. There are 
now three daily lines between the two places, and the trip only 
takes an afternoon. 

The first newspaper printed in Dayton, was the Dayton Reper¬ 
tory, issued by William M’Clure and George Smith, on the 18th of 
September, 1808, on a foolscap sheet. The newspapers now pub¬ 
lished here are the “ Dayton Journal,” daily and weekly ; the “Day- 
ton Transcript,” twice a week ; and the “ Western Empire,” weekly. 

The population of Dayton was 383 in 1810; 1139 in 1820; 
2954 in 1830; 6067 in 1840, and 9792 in 1845. There are 15 
churches, of which the Presbyterians, Methodists and Lutherans each 
have two, and the Episcopalians, Catholics, Baptists, Disciples, New- 
lights, German Reformed, Albrights, Dunkers and African Baptists, 
have each one. There is a large water power within the bounds of 
the city, besides a great deal more in the immediate vicinity. A 
portion of that introduced in the city by a new hydraulic canal, is 
not yet in use; but there are now in operation within the corporate 
limits, 2 flouring mills, 4 saw mills, 2 oil mills, 3 cotton mills, 2 wool¬ 
len factories, 2 paper mills, 5 machine shops, 1 scythe factory, 2 











































































372 


MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 


flooring machines, 1 last and peg factory, 1 gun-barrel factory and 
3 iron founderies. The public buildings are 2 market houses, one 
of which has a city hall over it, an academy, a female academy, 3 
common-school houses and a jail of stone. There are 2 banks. 
A court house is now building of cut stone, the estimated cost of 
which is $63,000. The architect, by whom it was designed, is Mr. 
Henry Daniels, now of Cincinnati, and the one superintending its 
construction, is Mr. Daniel Waymire. There are nine turnpike 
roads leading out of Dayton, and connecting it with the country 
around, in every direction. The Miami canal, from Cincinnati to 
Lake Erie, runs through it. 

Among the early settlers of Montgomery county was Col. Robert 
Patterson. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1753, and emigrated 
to Kentucky in 1775. In 1804, he removed from Kentucky and 
settled about a mile below Dayton. He was the original proprietor 
of Lexington, Ky., and one-third owner of Cincinnati, when it was 
laid out. He was with Col. George Rogers Clarke in 1778, in his 
celebrated Illinois campaign ; in the following year he was in Bow¬ 
man’s expedition against old Chillicothe in August, 1780, he was 
a captain under Clarke, in his expedition against the Shawnees, on 
the Little Miami and Mad river ; was second in command to Col. 
Boone, August 19th, 1782, at the battle of the Lower Blue Licks ; 
was colonel on the second expedition of Gen. Clarke, in the follow¬ 
ing September, into the Miami country; held the same office in 
1786, under Col. Logan, in his expedition against the Shawnees. 
He died, August 5th, 1827. His early life was full of incidents, one 
of the most remarkable of which we give in his own language, as 
originally published in the Ohio National Journal. 

In the fall of 1776,1 started from M’Clellan’s station, (now Georgetown, Ky.,) in com¬ 
pany with Jos. M’Nutt, David Perry, James Wernock, James Templeton, Edward Mitch¬ 
ell and Isaac Greer, to go to Pittsburgh. We procured provision for our journey at the 
Blue Licks, from the well-known stone house, the Buffalo. At Limestone, we procured a 
canoe, and started up the Ohio river by water. Nothing material transpired during sev¬ 
eral of the first days of our journey. We landed at Point Pleasant, where was a fort com¬ 
manded by Capt. Arbuckle. After remaining there a short time, and receiving dispatches 
from Capt. Arbuckle to the commandant at Wheeling, we again proceeded. Aware that 
Indians were lurking along the bank of the river, we travelled with the utmost caution. 
We usually landed an hour before sunset, cooked and eat our supper, and went on until 
after dark. At night we lay without fire, as convenient to our canoe as possible, and 
started again in the morning at day break. We had all agreed that if any disaster should 
befall us by day or by night, that we would stand by each other, as long as any help could 
be afforded. At length the memorable 12th of October arrived. During the day we 
passed several new improvements, which occasioned us to be less watchful and carefukthan 
we had been before. Late in the evening we landed opposite the island, [on the Ohio side 
of the river, in what is now Athens county,] then called the Hockhocking, and were beginning 
to flatter ourselves that we should reach some inhabitants the next day. Having eaten 
nothing that day, contrary to our usual practice, we kindled a fire and cooked supper. 
After we had eaten and made the last of our flour into a loaf of bread, and put it into an 
old brass kettle to bake, so that we might be ready to start again in the morning at day¬ 
break, we lay down to rest, keeping the same clothes on at night that we wore during the 


* The Notes on Kentucky gives the number of men under Bowman, on this occasion, as 
160 ; but the memoranda of Col. Patterson puts it at 400.— J. W. Van Cleve,in the Am. 
Pioneer. 



the Great Miami appears in the distance. 















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 


373 


day. For the want of a better, I had on a hunting shirt and britch clout, (so called,) and 
flannel leggins. I had my powder horn and shot pouch on my side, and placed the butt 
of my gun under my head. Five of our company lay on the east side of the fire, and 
James Templeton and myself on the west; we were lying on our left sides, myself in front, 
with my right hand hold of my gun. Templeton was lying close behind me. This was 
our position, and asleep, when we were fired upon by a party of Indians. Immediatey after 
the fire they rushed upon us with tomahawks, as if determined to finish the work of death 
they had begun. It appeared that one Indian had shot on my side of the fire. I saw the 
flash of the gun and felt the ball pass through me, but where I could not tell, nor was it 
at first painful. I sprang to take up gun, but my right shoulder came to the ground. I 
made another effort, and was half bent in getting up, when an Indian sprang past the fire 
with savage fierceness, and struck me with his tomahawk. From the position I was in, 
it went between two ribs, just behind the back bone a little below the kidney, and penetra¬ 
ted the cavity of the body. He then immediately turned to Templeton, (who by this time 
had got to his feet with his gun in hand,) and seized his gun. A desperate scuffle ensued, 
but Templeton held on, and finally bore off the gun. In the meantime, I made from the 
light, and in my attempt to get out of sight, I was delayed for a moment by getting my 
right arm fast between a tree and a sapling, but having got clear and away from the light 
of the fire, and finding that I had lost the use of my right arm, I made a shift to keep it 
up by drawing it through.the straps of my shot pouch. I could see the crowd about the 
fire, but the firing had ceased and the strife seemed to be over. I had reason to believe that 
the others were all shot and tomahawked. Hearing no one coming towards me, I re¬ 
solved to go to the river, and if possible to get into the canoe and float down, thinking by 
that means I might possibly reach Point Pleasant, supposed to be about 100 miles distant. 
Just as I got on the beach a little below the canoe, an Indian in the canoe gave a whoop, 
which gave me to understand that it was best to withdraw. I did so ; and with much 
difficulty got to an old log, and being very thirsty, faint and exhausted, I was glad to sit 
down. I felt the blood running and heard it dropping on the leaves all around me. Presently 
I heard the Indians board the canoe and float past. All was now silent, and I felt myself 
in a most forlorn condition. I could not see the fire, but determined to find it and see if 
any of my comrades were alive. I steered the course which I supposed the fire to be, and 
having reached it, I found Templeton alive, but wounded in nearly the same manner that 
I was. Jas. Wernock was also dangerously wounded, two balls having passed through his 
body ; Jos. M’Nutt was dead and scalped. D. Perry was wounded, but not badly, and 
Isaac Greer was missing. The miseries of that hour cannot well be described. 

When daylight appeared we held a council, and concluded that inasmuch as one gun 
and some ammunition was saved, Perry would furnish us with meat, and we would pro¬ 
ceed up the river by slow marches to the nearest settlements, supposed to be one hundred 
miles. A small quantity of provisions which was found scattered around the fire, was 
picked up and distributed among us, and a piece of blanket which was saved from the 
fire, was given to me to cover a wound on my back. On examination, it was found that 
two balls had passed through my right arm, and that the bone was broken ; to dress this, 
splinters were taken from a tree near the fire, that had been shivered by lightning, and 
placed on the outside of my hunting shirt and bound with a string. And now being in 
readiness to move, Perry took the gun and ammunition, and we all got to our feet except 
Wernock, who, on attempting to get up fell back to the ground. He refused to try again, 
said that he could not live, and at the same time desired us to do the best we could for 
ourselves. Perry then took hold of his arm and told him if he would get up he would 
carry him ; upon this he made another effort to get up, but falling back as before, he begged 
us in the most solemn manner to leave him. At his request, the old kettle was filled with 
water and placed at his side, which he said was the last and only favor required of us, 
and then conjured us to leave him and try to save ourselves, assuring us that should he 
live to see us again, he would cast no reflections of unkindness upon us. Thus we 
left him. When we had got a little distance I looked back, and distressed and hopeless 
as Wernock’s condition really was, I felt to envy it. After going about 100 poles, we 
were obliged to stop and rest, and found ourselves too sick aud weak to proceed. Another 
consultation being held, it was agreed that Templeton and myself should remain there with 
Edward Mitchell, and Perry should take the gun and go to the nearest settlement and seek 
relief. Perry promised that if he could not procure assistance, he would be back in four 
days. He then returned to the camp and found Wernock in the same state of mind as 
when we left, perfectly rational and sensible of his condition, replenished his kettle with 
water, brought us some fire, and started for the settlement. 

Alike unable to go back or forward, and being very thirsty we set about getting water 


374 


MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 


from a small stream that happened to be near us, our only drinking vessel an old wool hat, 
which was so broken that it was with great difficulty made to hold water; but by stuffing 
leaves in it, we made it hold so that each one could drink from once filling it. Nothing 
could have been a greater luxury to us, than a drink of water from the old hat. Just at night, 
Mitchell returned to see if Wernock was still living, intending if he was dead, to get the 
kettle for us. He arrived just in time to see him expire ; but not choosing to leave him 
until he should be certain that he was dead, he stayed with him until darkness came on, 
and when he attempted to return to us, he got lost and lay from us all night. We suffered 
much that night for the want of fire, and through fear that he was either killed or that he 
had ran off; but happily for us, our fears were groundless, for next morning at sunrise, he 
found his way to our camp. That day we moved about 200 yards farther up a deep ravine, 
and farther from the river. The weather, which had been cold and frosty, now became 
a little warmer, and commenced raining. Those that were with me could set up, but I 
had no alternative but to lie on my back on the ground, with my right arm over my body. 
The rain continuing next day, Mitchell took an excursion to examine the hills, and not far 
distant, he found a rock projecting from the cliff sufficient to shelter us from the rain, to 
which place we very gladly removed. He also gathered pawpaws for us, which were our 
only food, except perhaps a few grapes. 

Time moved slowly on until Saturday. Iu the meantime, we talked over the danger to 
which Perry was exposed, the distance he had to go and the improbability of his returning. 
When the time had expired which he had allowed himself, we concluded that we would, if 
alive, wait for him until Monday, and if he did not come then, and no relief should be 
afforded, we would attempt to travel to Point Pleasant. The third day after our defeat, 
my arm became very painful. The splinters and leaves of my shirt were cemented to¬ 
gether with blood, and stuck so fast to my arm that it required the application of warm 
water for nearly a whole day to loosen them so that they could be taken off; when this 
was done, I had my arm dressed with white oak leaves, which had a very good effect. On 
Saturday, about 12 o’clock, Mitchell came with his bosom full of pawpaws, and placed 
them convenient to us, and returned to his station on the river. He had been gone about 
an hour, when to our great joy we beheld him coming with a company of men. When 
they approached us, we found that our trusty friend and companion, David Perry, had re¬ 
turned to our assistance with Capt. John Walls, his officers and most of his company. Our 
feelings of gratitude may possibly be conceived, but words can never describe them. Suffice 
to say that these eyes flowed dowm plenteously with tears, and I was so completely over¬ 
whelmed with joy, that I fell to the ground. On my recovery, we were taken to the river 
and refreshed plentifully with provisions, which the captain had brought, and had our 
wounds dressed by an experienced man, who came for that purpose. We were afterwards 
described by the captain to be in a most forlorn and pitiable condition, more like corpses 
beginning to putrify than living beings. 

While we were at the cliff which sheltered us from the rain, the howling of the wolves 
in the direction of the fatal spot whence we had so narrowly escaped with our lives, left no 
doubt that they were feasting on the bodies of our much lamented friends, M’Nutt and 
Wernock. While we were refreshing ourselves at the river, and having our wounds 
dressed, Capt. Walls went with some of his men to the place of our defeat, and collected 
the bones of our late companions and buried them with the utmost expedition and care. 
We were then conducted by water to Capt. Wall’s station, at Grave creek. 

Miamisburg is 10 miles southerly from Dayton, on the Miami ca¬ 
nal and river, and the state road from Dayton to Cincinnati. This 
locality was originally called “ Hole’s Station ,” and a few families 
settled here about the time Dayton was commenced. The town 
was laid out in 1818; Emanuel Gebhart, Jacob Kercher, Dr. John 
and Peter Treon, being the original proprietors. The early settlers 
were of Dutch origin, most of whom emigrated from Berks county, 
Pa. The German is yet much spoken, and two of the churches 
worship in that language. The river and canal supply considerable 
water power. The town is compactly built. The view was taken 
near J. Zimmer’s hotel—shown on the right—and gives the appear¬ 
ance of the principal street, looking from that point in the direction 
of Dayton. A neat covered bridge crosses the Miami river at this 


MONTGOMERY COUNTY, 


375 


place. Miamisburg contains 1 Dutch Reformed, 1 Lutheran and 1 
Methodist church, 1 high school, 12 mercantile stores, 1 woollen and 



View in Miamisburg. 


1 cotton factory, 1 grist mill, 1 iron foundery, and had in 1840, 834, 
and in 1846, 1055 inhabitants. 

In the lower part of Miamisburg, are the remains of an ancient 
work; and this region abounds in the works and fortifications so 
common in the west. About a mile and a quarter southeast of the vil¬ 
lage, on an elevation more than 100 feet above the Miami, is the largest 
mound in the northern states, excepting the mammoth mound at 
Grave creek, on the Ohio below Wheeling, which it about equals in 
dimensions. It measures about 800 feet around the base, and rises 
to the height of 67 feet. When first known, it was covered with 
forest trees, from the top of one of which,—a maple tree growing 



Great Mound. 


from its apex,—it is said, Dayton could be plainly seen. The mound 
has not been thoroughly examined, like that at Grave creek; but 
probably is similar in character. Many years since, a shaft was 
sunk from the top ; at first, some human bones were exhumed, and at 



















376 


MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 


the depth of about 11 feet, the ground sounding hollow, the workmen 
were afraid to progress farther. Probably two vaults are in it, like 
those of Grave creek; one at the base in the center, the other oyer 
it, near the summit; it was, we suppose, this upper vault which 
gave forth the hollow sound. The mound is the steepest on the 
north and east sides, and is ascended with some little difficulty. It 
now sustains an orchard of about 40 apple, and a few' peach and 
forest trees. The view from the summit is beautiful. At one’s feet 
lays the village of Miamisburg, while the fertile valley of the river 
is seen stretching away for miles. 



Center Street, Germantown. 

Germantown, named from Germantown, Pa., is 13 miles sw. of 
Dayton, in a beautiful valley, surrounded by one of the most fertile 
sections of land in the west. It is steadily improving, and is noted 
for the substantial industry and wealth of its citizens. This thriv¬ 
ing town was laid out in 1814, by Philip Gunckel, proprietor, who 
previously built a saw and grist mill on Twin creek, and opened a 
store at the same place. Most of its early settlers were of German 
descent, and emigrated from Berks, Lebanon and Center counties, 
Pa. Among these, were the Gunckels, the Emericks, the Schaeffers, 
&c., whose descendents now comprise a large proportion of the in¬ 
habitants. The village is handsomely laid out in squares, the houses 
are of a substantial character and the streets ornamented by locusts. 
It contains 2 German Reformed, 1 Lutheran, 1 Episcopal Methodist 
and 1 United Brethren church, a flourishing academy for both sexes, 
1 book, 2 grocery and 5 dry goods stores, 1 newspaper printing 
office, 1 brewery, 1 woollen factory, and about 1200 inhabitants. 

Carrolton, Alexandersville, Centerville, Harrisburg, Union, Ar¬ 
lington, Phillipsburg, Salem, Pyrmont, New Lebanon, Johnsville, 
Farmersville, Sunbury, Liberty, Vandalia, Little York, Chambers- 
burg, Texas, Mexico, M’Pherson, Lewisburg, North and West Day- 
ton, are all small places, the largest of which may contain 60 dwell¬ 
ings. 


















MORGAN COUNTY, 


377 


MORGAN. 


Morgan, named from Gen. Daniel Morgan, of the revolution, was 
organized March 1st, 1818. The Muskingum flows through the 
heart of the county, which, with its branches, furnishes considerable 
water power. The surface is very hilly ; the soil limestone clay, 
strong and fertile. The principal products are salt, wheat, corn, 
oats, pork and tobacco. The following is a list of the townships in 
1840, with their population. 

Bloom, 1388 Malta, 1404 

Manchester, 1266 

Meigsville, 1159 

Morgan, 1518 

Noble, 1315 


Bristol, 

Brookfield, 

Center, 

Deerfield, 

Jackson, 


1647 

1433 

1171 

1224 

920 


Olive, 1650 
Penn, 1119 
Union, 1334 
Windsor, 1279 
York, 1030 


The population of Morgan, in 1820, was 5299, in 1830, 11,800, and 
in 1840, 20,857 ; or 41 inhabitants to the square mile. 

The first settlement in this county, made at Big Bottom, on the 
Muskingum, near the south line of the county, was broken up by the 
Indians. In the autumn of 1790, a company of 36 men went from 
Marietta and commenced the settlement. They erected a block¬ 
house on the first bottom on the east bank of the river, four miles 
above the mouth of Meigs creek. They were chiefly young, single 
men, but little acquainted with Indian warfare or military rules. 


“ Those best acquainted with the Indians, and those most capable of judging from ap¬ 
pearances, had little doubt that they were preparing for hostilities, and strongly opposed the 
settlers going out that fall, and advised their remaining until spring ; by which time, proba¬ 
bly, the question of war or peace would be settled. Even Gen. Putnam, and the directors 
of the Ohio company, who gave away the land to have it settled, thought it risky and im¬ 
prudent, and strongly remonstrated against venturing out at that time.” 

“ But the young men were impatient, confident in their own prudence and ability to pro¬ 
tect themselves. They went, put up a block-house which might accommodate the whole 
of them on an emergency, covered it, and laid puncheon floors, stairs, &c. It was laid up 
of large beech logs, and rather open, as it was not chinked between the logs ; this job was 
left for a rainy day, or some more convenient season. Here was their first great error, as 
they ceased to complete the work, and the general interest was lost in that of the con¬ 
venience of each individual; with this all was lost. The second error was, they kept no 
sentry, and had neglected to stockade or set pickets around the block-house.” “ No sys¬ 
tem of defence and discipline had been introduced. Their guns were lying in different 
places, without order, about the house. Twenty men usually encamped in the house, a part 
of whom were now absent, and each individual and mess cooked for themselves. One end 
of the building was appropriated for a fire-place, and when the day closed in, all came in, 
built a large fire, and commenced cooking and eating their suppers.” 

“ The weather, for some time previous to the attack, as we learn from the diary of Hon. 
Paul Fearing, who lived at Fort Harmer, had been quite cold. In the midst of winter, and 
with such weather as this, it was not customary for the Indians to venture out on war par¬ 
ties, and the early borderers had formerly thought themselves in a manner safe from their 
depredations during the winter months. 

“About twenty rods above the block-house, and a little back from the bank of the river, 
two men, Francis and Isaac Choate, members of the company, had erected a cabin and 
commenced clearing their lots. Thomas Shaw, a hired laborer in the employ of the 
Choates, and James Patten, another of the associates, lived with them. About the same 
distance below the garrison, was an old “ tomahawk improvement” and a small cabin, 
which two men, Asa and Eleazer Bullard, had fitted up and now occupied. The Indian 

48 


378 


MORGAN COUNTY. 


war path, from Sandusky to the mouth of the Muskingum, passed along on the opposite 
shore, in sight of the river. 

“The Indians, who, during the summer, had been hunting and loitering about the settle¬ 
ments at Wolf creek mills and Plainfield, holding frequent and friendly intercourse with the 
settlers, selling them venison and bear meat in exchange for green corn and vegetables, had 
withdrawn early in the autumn, and gone high up the river into the vicinity of their tow r ns, 
preparatory to winter quarters. Being well acquainted with all the approaches to these 
settlements, and the manner in which the inhabitants lived, each family in their own cabin, 
not apprehensive of danger, they planned and fitted out a war party for their destruction. 
It is said, they were not aware of there being a settlement at Big Bottom until they came 
in sight of it, on the opposite shore of the river, in the afternoon. From a high hill oppo¬ 
site the garrison, they had a view of all that part of the bottom, and could see how the men 
were occupied, and what w T as doing about the block-house. Having reconnoitered the 
station in this manner, just at twilight they crossed the river on the ice a little above, and 
divided their men into two parties ; the larger one to attack the block-house, and the smaller 
one to make prisoners of the few men living in Choate's cabin, without alarming those 
below. The plan was skillfully arranged and promptly executed. As the party cautiously ap¬ 
proached the cabin, they found the inmates at supper; a party of the Indians entered, while 
others stood without by the door, and addressed the men in a friendly manner. Suspecting 
no harm, they offered them a part of their food, of which they partook. Looking about the 
room, the Indians espied some leather thongs and pieces of cord that had been used in pack¬ 
ing venison, and taking the white men by their arms told them they were prisoners. Find¬ 
ing it useless to resist, the Indians being more numerous, they submitted to their fate in 
silence. 

“While this was transacting, the other party had reached the block-house unobserved; 
even the dogs gave no notice of their approach, as they usually do, by barking ; the reason 
probably was, that they were also within by the fire, instead of being on the alert for their 
masters’ safety. The door was thrown open by a stout Mohawk, who stepped in and stood 
by the door to keep it open, while his companions without shot down those around the fire. 
A man by the name of Zebulon Throop, from Massachusetts, was frying meat, and fell 
dead in the fire ; several others fell at this discharge. The Indians then rushed in and 
killed all who were left with the tomahawk. No resistance seems to have been offered, so 
sudden and unexpected was the attack, by any of the men ; but a stout, backwoods, Vir¬ 
ginia woman, the wife of Isaac Meeks, who was employed as their hunter, seized an axe 
and made a blow at the head of the Indian who opened the door ; a slight turn of the head 
saved his skull, and the axe passed down through his cheek into the shoulder, leaving a huge 
gash that severed nearly half his face ; she was instantly killed by the tomahawk of one of 
his companions before she could repeat the stroke. This was all the injury received by the 
Indians, as the men were all killed before they had time to seize their arms, which stood 
in the corner of the room. While the slaughter was going on, John Stacy, a young man 
in the prime of life, and the son of Col. William Stacy, sprung up the stair-way and out on 
to the roof; while his brother Philip, a lad of sixteen years, secreted himself under some 
bedding in the corner of the room. The Indians on the outside soon discovered the for¬ 
mer, and shot him while he was in the act of “ begging them, for God’s sake, to spare his 
life, as he was the only one left!” 

“ This was heard by the Bullards, who, alarmed by the firing at the block-house, had run 
out of their cabin to see what was the matter. Discovering the Indians round the house, 
they sprung back into their hut, seized their rifles and ammunition, and, closing the door 
after them, put out into the woods in a direction to be hid by the cabin from the view of the 
Indians. They had barely escaped when they heard their door, which was made of thin 
clapboards, burst open by the Indians. They did not pursue them, although they knew 
they had just fled, as there was a good fire burning, and their food for supper smoking 
hot on the table. After the slaughter was over and the scalps secured, one of the most im¬ 
portant acts in the warfare of the American savages, they proceeded to collect the plunder. 
In removing the bedding, the lad, Philip Stacy, was discovered ; their tomahawks were in¬ 
stantly raised to dispatch him, when he threw himself at the feet of one of their leading 
warriors, begging him to protect him. The savage either took compassion on his youth, 
or else his revenge being satisfied with the slaughter already made, interposed his authority 
and saved his life. After removing every thing they thought valuable, they tore up the 
floor, piled it on the dead bodies, and set it on fire, thinking to destroy the block-house 
with the carcases of their enemies. The building being made of green beech logs, the fires 
only consumed the floors and roof, leaving the walls still standing when visited the day 
after by the whites. 


MORGAN COUNTY. 


379 


"There were twelve persons killed in this attack, viz., John Stacy, Ezra Putnam, son of 
Major Putnam, of Marietta; John. Camp and Zebulon Throop—these men were from 
Massachusetts; Jonathan Farewell and James Couch, from New Hampshire; William 
James, from Connecticut; Joseph Clark, Rhode Island; Isaac Meeks, his wife and two 
children, from Virginia. They were well provided with arms, and no doubt could have 
defended themselves had they taken proper precautions; but they had no old revolutionary 
officers with them to plan and direct their operations, as they had at all the other garrisons. 
If they had picketed their house and kept a regular sentry, the Indians would probably never 
have attacked them. They had no horses or cattle for them to seize upon as plunder, and 
Indians are not very fond of hard fighting where nothing is to be gained ; but seeing the 
naked block-house, without any defences, they were encouraged to attempt its capture. 
Colonel Stacy, who had been an old soldier, well acquainted with Indian warfare in Cherry 
valley, and had two sons there, visited the post only the Saturday before, and seeing its 
weak state, had given them a strict charge to keep a regular watch, and prepare imme¬ 
diately strong bars to the door, to be shut every night at sunset. They, however, fearing 
no danger, did not profit by his advice. 



View in 31*Connelsville. 

“ The party of Indians, after this, bent their steps towards the Wolf creek mills ; but find¬ 
ing the people here awake and on the look-out, prepared for an attack, they did nothing 
more than reconnoitre the place, and made their retreat at early dawn, to the great relief 
of the inhabitants. The number of Indians who came over from Big Bottom was never 
known. 

"The next day, Captain Rogers led a party of men over to Big Bottom. It was a melan¬ 
choly sight to the poor borderers, as they knew not how soon the same fate might befall 
themselves. The action of the fire, although it did not consume, had so blackened and dis¬ 
figured the dead, that few of them could be distinguished. That of Ezra Putnam was 
known by a pewter plate that lay under him, and which his body had prevented from en¬ 
tirely melting. His mother’s name was on the bottom of the plate, and a part of the cake 
he was baking at the fire still adhered to it. William James was recognized by his great 
size, being six feet four inches in height, and stoutly built. He had a piece of bread clenched 
in his right hand, probably in the act of eating, with his back to the door, when the fatal 
rifle shot took effect. As the ground was frozen outside, a hole was dug within the walls of 
the house, and the bodies consigned to one grave. No further attempt was made at a set¬ 
tlement here till after the peace, in 1795.” 

M’Connelsville, the county seat, named from its original proprie¬ 
tor, Robert M’Connel, is situated upon the east bank of the Muskin¬ 
gum, 75 miles southeasterly from Columbus, 36 above Marietta, and 
27 below Zanesville. The view was taken in the center of the town: 
on the left is seen the court house, the jail and county clerks’ office, 
and in the distance, down the street, appears the Baptist church. 



























380 


MORGAN COUNTY. 


This thriving town contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Congregational, 2 
Baptist, 1 Protestant Methodist, and 1 "Episcopal Methodist church; 
15 mercantile stores, 2 newspaper printing offices, 1 foundery, 1 
woollen factory, 2 flouring mills, and had in 1840, 957 inhabitants. 

According to the United States statistics for 1840, more salt is 
manufactured in Morgan than in any other county in Ohio. It is 
procured by sinking wells, which, in some instances, are nearly 1000 
feet in depth. The salt manufactured on the Muskingum finds its 
principal market in Cincinnati, where it is called “ Zanesville salt,” 
although the far greater part of it is made in this county. The 
sketch of the salt region on the Muskingum, we take from an article, 
by Dr. S. P. Hildreth, in the 24th volume of Silliman’s Journal. 

The first attempt at procuring salt on this river was made by Mr. Ayers, in the year 1817, 
a few miles below, and at the foot of the rapids at Zanesville, in the year 1819, by S. Fair- 
lamb. He being a man of considerable mechanical ingenuity, constructed some simple 
machinery, connected with a water mill, which performed the operation of boring without 
much expense. Salt had been made for many years at the works on Salt creek, nine miles 
se. of Ranesville, and some slight indications of salt on the rocks, at low water, led to this 
trial. Water was found, impregnated with muriate of soda, at about three hundred and 
fifty feet. It afforded salt of a good quality, but was not abundant, nor sufficiently saturated 
to make its manufacture profitable. Within the period of a few years after, several other 
wells were bored in this vicinity, but generally lower down the river. It was soon dis¬ 
covered that the water was stronger as they descended, and that the salt deposit was at a 
greater depth. At Duncan’s falls, nine miles below, at the mouth of Salt creek, the rock 
had descended to four hundred and fifty feet, and with a proportionate increase in the 
strength of the water. At the latter place, the owner of a well not finding a sufficient sup¬ 
ply of water for his furnace, although it was of the desired strength, pushed his well to the 
depth of four hundred feet below the salt rock. His praise-worthy perseverance, however, 
met not with its proper reward. No additional salt water was found, although it is highly 
probable that other salt strata are deposited below those already discovered, but at such a 
depth as to render it very difficult to reach them by the present mode of boring. As we 
descend the river, wells are found, at short distances, for thirty miles below Zanesville, 
gradually deepening until the salt rock is reached, at eight hundred and fifty feet below the 
surface. The water is also so much augmented in strength as to afford fifty pounds of salt 
to every fifty gallons. Twenty-two miles below the rapids, a stratum of flint rock, from 
nine to twelve feet in thickness, comes to the surface and crosses the river, making a slight 
ripple at low water. This rock has a regular dip to the south, and at M’Connelsville, five 
miles below, it is found at one hundred and fourteen feet; and two and a half miles further 
down, it is struck at one hundred and sixty feet. Where wells have been sunk through this 
rock, it affords a sure guide to the saliferous deposit, as the intermediate strata are very 
uniform in quality and thickness, and the practical operator can tell within a foot or two the 
actual distance to be passed between the two rocks, although the interval is six hundred and 
fifty feet. Above the point where the flint rock crops out, the rock strata appear to have 
been worn away, so that as you ascend the river the salt rock comes nearer to the surface, 
until at the forks of the Muskingum, it is only two hundred feet below. This flint rock is 
so very hard and sharp-grained, that it cuts away the best cast steel from the augers, nearly 
or quite as rapidly as the steel cuts away the rock, and requires three weeks of steady 
labor, night and day, to penetrate ten feet. With a few exceptions, the other strata are 
readily passed. 

The lower salt rock often occasions much difficulty to the workmen, from the auger’s 
becoming fixed in the hole. The sand of this rock, when beaten fine and allowed to settle 
compactly about the auger in the bottom of the well, becomes so hard and firm as to re¬ 
quire the greatest exertions to break it loose, frequently fracturing the stout ash poles in the 
attempt. From the sand and small particles of the rock brought up by the pump, the salt 
stratum appears to be of a pure pearly whiteness ; and the more porous and cellular its 
structure, the greater is the quantity of water afforded ; as more freedom is given to the 
discharge of gas, which appears to be a very active agent in the rise of water, forcing it, in 
nearly all the wells, above the bed of the river, and in some to twenty-five or thirty feet 
above the top of the well. 


MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 


381 


Malta, on the west bank of the Muskingum, opposite M’Connels- 
ville, is a thriving little place, containing 1 Episcopal Methodist, 1 
Protestant Methodist church, 6 stores, a woollen factory, a flouring 
mill, and had, in 1840, 247 inhabitants. The following are the 
names of other villages in the county, with their population in 1840: 
Pennsville 198, Deavertown 182, Windsor 118, Sharon 109, Eagle- 
port 63, Big Rock 61, Sarahsville 55, Morganville 36, Hiramsburgh 
35, Airington 34, and Rosseau 33. 


MUSKINGUM. 


Muskingum was formed March 1 , 1804, from Washington and 
Fairfield. The word Muskingum, says Kilbourn’s Gazetteer, “ is 
said to signify, in the old Indian language, an elk's eye, or the glare 
of an elk's eye." Col. John Johnston, of Upper Piqua, Miami 
county, says that “ Muskingum is a Delaware word, and means a 
town on the river side. The Shawanoese call it Wa-ka-tamo sepe , 
which has the same signification.” The surface is rolling or hilly, 
and clay the predominating soil. It abounds with bituminous coal, 
and has pipe clay and burr-stone or cellular quartz, suitable for mill 
stones. There are numerous salt works. The brine is obtained by 
boring into a stratum of whitish sandstone—called salt rock—at a 
depth of several hundred feet. The ancient works are numerous, 
and iron ore is found. It is a rich and thickly settled county. The 
principal agricultural productions are corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, 
tobacco, wool and pork. The following is a list of the townships in 
1840, with their population. 

Adams, 

Blue Rock, 

Brush Creek, 

Falls, 

Harrison, 

Highland, 

Hopewell, 

Jackson, 


988 

Jefferson, 

2128 

Rich Hill, 

1426 

1074 

Licking, 

1322 

Salem, 

1002 

1765 

Madison, 

1070 

Salt Creek, 

1252 

2002 

Meigs, 

1333 

Springfield, 

2334 

1426 

Monroe, 

918 

Union, 

1625 

884 

Muskingum, 

1252 

Washington, 

1486 

291 

Newton, 

2707 

Wayne, 

1276 

1123 

Perry, 

1061 

Zanesville, 

5141 


, The population of Muskingum, in 1820, was 17,824; in 1830, 
29,335; and in 1840, 38,746, or 52 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The Muskingum country was principally occupied by the Wyan- 
dots, Delawares, and a few Senecas and Shawanoese. An Indian 
town once stood, years before the settlement of the country, in the 
vicinity of Duncan falls, from which circumstance the place is often 
called “ Old Town.” Near Dresden, was a large Shawanoese town, 
called Wakatomaca. The grave-yard was extensive, and when the 
whites first settled there, the remains of cabins were still visible. 
It was in this vicinity that the venerable Major Cass, the father of 
Hon. Lewis Cass, lived and died. He drew 4000 acres for his mil- 



382 


MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 


itary services, and the location embraced within its limits the ancient 
town plot of the natives. 

The annexed narrative of an expedition against Wakatomaca, is 
from Doddridge’s Notes. 

Under the command of Col. Angus M’Donald, 400 men were collected from the western 
part of Virginia, by the order of the Earl of Dunmore, the then governor of Virginia. The 
place of rendezvous was Wheeling, some time in the month of June, 1774. They went 
down the river in boats and canoes, to the mouth of Captina, from thence by the shortest 
route to the Wappatomica town, about sixteen miles below the present Coshocton. The 
pilots were Jonathan Zane, Thomas Nicholson and Tady Kelly. About six miles from 
the town, the army were met by a party of Indians, to the number of 40 or 50, who gave 
a skirmish, by the way of ambuscade, in which two of our men were killed and eight or 
nine wounded. One Indian was killed and several wounded. It was supposed that sev¬ 
eral more of them were killed, but they were carried off. When the army came to the 
town, it was found evacuated, the Indians had retreated to the opposite shore of the river, 
where they had formed an ambuscade, supposing the party w r ould cross the river from the 
town. This was immediately discovered. The commanding officer then sent sentinels up 
and down the river, to give notice, in case the Indians should attempt to cross above or 
below the town. A private in the company of Captain Cressap, of the name of John 
Hargus, one of the sentinels below the town, displayed the skill of a backwoods sharp¬ 
shooter. Seeing an Indian behind a blind across the river, raising up his head, at times, to 
look over the river, Hargus charged his rifle with a second ball, and taking deliberate aim, 
passed both balls through the neck of the Indian. The Indians dragged off the body and 
buried it with the honors of war. It was found the next morning, and scalped by 
Hargus. 

Soon after the town was taken, the Indians from the opposite shore sued for peace. The 
commander offered them peace on condition of their sending over their chiefs as hostages. 
Five of them came over the river, and were put under guard as hostages. In the morning, 
they were marched in front of the army over the river. When the party had reached the 
western bank of the Muskingum, the Indians represented that they could not make peace 
without the presence of the chiefs of the other towns. On which, one of the chiefs was 
released to bring in the others. He did not return in the appointed time. Another chief 
was permitted to go on the same errand, who in like manner did not return. The party 
then moved up the river to the next town, which was about a mile above the first, and on 
the opposite shore. Here we had a slight skirmish with the Indians, in which one of them 
was killed and one of our men wounded. It was then discovered, that during all the time 
spent in the negotiation, the Indians were employed in removing their women and children, 
old people and effects, from the upper towns. The towns were burned and the corn cut 
up. The party then returned to the place from which they set out, bringing with them the 
three remaining chiefs, who were sent to Williamsburgh. They were released at the 
peace, the succeeding fall. 

The army were out of provisions before they left the towns, and had to subsist on weeds, 
one ear of corn each day, with a very scanty supply of game. The com was obtained at 
one of the Indian towns. 

Additional to the above, we give the reminiscences of Abraham 
Thomas, originally published in the Troy Times. He was on this 
expedition, and later, among the early settlers of Miami county. 

The collected force consisted of 400 men. I was often at their encampment; and 
against the positive injunctions of my parents, could not resist my inclination to join them. 
At this time, I was 18 years of age, owned my own rifle and accoutrements, and had been 
long familiar with the use of them. Escaping, I made the best possible provision I could 
from my own resources, and hastened to enter as a volunteer under old Mike, then Captain 
Cressap. The plan of the expedition was for every man to cross the Ohio, with seven days’ 
provision in his pack. The object was to attack the Indians in their villages at Wapa- 
tomica. Some were on the waters of the Muskingum. On the first or second day’s 
march, after crossing the Ohio, we were overtaken by a Colonel M’Donald, a British offi¬ 
cer, who highly incensed the troops by ordering a halt for three days, during which we 
were consuming our provisions. While laying here, a violent storm through the night had 
wet our arms, and M’Donald ordered the men to discharge them in a hollow log, to deaden 
the report. My rifle would not go off, and I took the barrel out $ unbreech it. In doing 


MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 


383 


this, I made some noise in beating it with my tomahawk, on which M’Donald came towards 
me swearing, with an uplifted cane, threatening to strike. I instantly arose on my feet, 
with the rifle barrel in my hand, and stood in an attitude of defence. We looked each 
other in the eye for some time ; at last he dropped his cane and walked off, while the whole 
troop set up a laugh, crying, the boy has scared the colonel. Cressap heard what was 
going on, and approached to defend me, but seeing how well I could defend myself, stood 
by, smiling at the fracas. The colonel having no reputation as an Indian fighter, was very 
naturally disliked as a leader, by Cressap and the men. 

From this encampment we proceeded towards the Indian villages with the intention of 
surprising them; but late in the afternoon before we reached them, we encountered the 
Indians laying in ambush on the top of a second bottom. We had just crossed a branch, 
and was marching along its first bottom with a view of finding some place to cross a 
swamp that lay between us and the upper bottom. The men were marching in three par¬ 
allel, Indian file columns, some distance apart. On espying a trace across the swamp, the 
heads of the columns, in passing it, were thrown together, and as soon as they had gained 
the bank, unexpectedly received the fire of the enemy. The troops immediately displayed 
to the right and left, under the bank, and commenced ascending it, when the skirmish be¬ 
came general and noisy for about thirty minutes. The Indians then gave way in every 
direction. In this fight, we had four or five killed and many wounded; it was supposed 
the Indians suffered much more. 

During the engagement, while I was ascending the point of a bank, formed by a ravine 
from the second bottom, in company with two men, Martin and Fox, all aiming to gain 
the cover of some large oak trees on the top, they both fell. The first was killed, the 
last wounded in the breast, the ball having entered the bone, but was drawn out with 
the clothes. Those men were walking in a line with each other, and an Indian chief, con¬ 
cealed behind the tree for which I was aiming, shot them both with one ball. I took no 
notice whence the ball came, and hastened to the tree ; just as I had gained it, the chief 
fell dead from the other side, and rolled at my feet. It seems a neighbor, who had seen 
him fire at Martin and Fox, and dodge behind the tree, stood ready to give him a shot 
whenever he should again make his appearance. The Indian had got his ball half down, 
and peeped out to look at me, when Wilson shot him in the head. The Indians retreated 
towards Wapatomica, flanked by two companies in hot pursuit; we followed in the 
rear, and as the last Indian was stepping out of the water, Captain Teabaugh, a great 
soldier and good marksman, brought him to the ground. I was at the time standing near 
Teabaugh, and shall never forget the thrilling emotion produced by this incident. During 
this battle, one of the men, Jacob Newbold, saw the colonel laying snug behind a fallen 
tree, sufficiently remote from danger, had there been no defence. It was immediately 
noised among the men, who were in high glee at the joke ; one would cry out, “ who got 
behind the log ?” when an hundred voices would reply, “the colonel! the colonel!” At 
this, M’Donald became outrageous; I heard him inquire for the man who had raised the 
report, and threatened to punish him I went round and told Newbold what the colonel 
had said ; “ that’s your sort,” said he. Raising on his feet and going towards the colonel, 
declared he did see him slink behind the log during the battle. He gave his rifle to a man 
standing by, cut some hickories, and stood on the defenpe, at which the whole company 
roared with laughter, and the colonel took himself off to another part of the line. Night was 
now at hand, and the division was ordered, by the colonel, to encamp in an oak woods, 
in sight of the Indian villages, Cressap’s party laying by themselves. This evening, Jack 
Hayes was spying down the creek, saw an Indian looking at us through the forks of a low 
tree ; he levelled his rifle and shot him directly between the eyes, and brought him into 
camp. Just after night-fall, Col. M’Donald was hailed from over the creek by an Indian, 
who implored peace in behalf of his tribe. He was invited over by the colonel, who held 
a parley with him, but declined entering into terms until more Indians were present. It 
was then proposed, if two white men would go the Indians, they would send two more of 
their number to us; but none being willing to undertake the visit, two came over and 
stayed all night in the colonel’s tent; but their only object was to watch the troops, and 
gain time to remove their families and effects from the town. Captain Cressap was up 
the whole night among his men, going the rounds, and cautioning them to keep their arms 
in condition for a morning attack, which he confidently expected. About two hours be¬ 
fore day-break, he silently formed his men, examined each rifle, and let them across the 
creek into the villages, leaving M’Donald, with the other troops, in the encampment. At 
this time, the Indians who had passed the night in the camp, escaped. The village was 
directly surrounded, and the savages fled from it into the adjoining thicket in the utmost 
consternation. In this attack, none were killed on either side, but one Indian by Captain 
Cressap. 


384 


MUSKINGUM COUNTY, 


By this time, the camp was nearly out of provisions, with a three days* march before 
them. A small quantity of old corn and one cow was the entire spoils of the villages. 
Those were distributed among the men, the villages burned, and the troops immediately 
commenced their march for the Ohio river, where they expected to meet provisions sent 
down from Redstone. The men became exceedingly famished on this march, and myself 
being young, was so weak that I could no longer carry any thing on my person. An 
older brother and one or two others kept encouraging me ; one of them had a good stock 
of tobacco. I saw him take it, and with an earnestness bordering on delirium, insisted on 
having some. As I had never used it before, they refused, thinking it would entirely dis¬ 
able me ; but as I was so importunate, they at last gave me a small piece. I directly felt 
myself relieved. They gave me more, and in a short time my strength and spirits returned. 
I took my arms and baggage, and was able to travel with the rest of them, and was 
actually the first to reach the Ohio. Here we met the boats, but nothing in them but com 
in the ear. Every man was soon at work with his tomahawk, crushing it on the stones, 
and mixing it with water in gourds or leaves fashioned in the shape of cups, -while some 
provident ones enjoyed the aristocratic luxury of tin cups; but all seemed alike to relish 
the repast. A party of us crossed the Ohio that day for the settlement, when we came up 
with a drove of hogs, in tolerable order. We shot one and eat him on the spot, without 
criticizing with much nicety the mode or manner of preparation. Indeed, the meat of 
itself was so savoury and delicious, we thought of little else. In a few days, I returned to 
my parents, and after a little domestic storming and much juvenile vaunting of our exploits, 
settled down to clearing. 

Zanesville , the county seat, is beautifully situated 54 miles east of 
Columbus, at the point where the national road crosses the Muskin¬ 
gum, and opposite the mouth of the Licking. 

In May, 1796, congress passed a law authorizing Ebenezer Zane to open a road from 
Wheeling, in Virginia, to Limestone, now Maysville, Ky. In the following year, Mr. 
Zane, accompanied by his brother, Jonathan Zane, and his son-in-law, John M’Intire, both 
experienced woodsmen, proceeded to mark out the new road, which was afterwards cut out 
by the two latter. The cutting out, however, was a very hasty business, in which nothing 
more was attempted than to make the road passable for horsemen. As a compensation 
for opening this road, congress granted to Ebenezer Zane the privilege of locating military 
warrants upon three sections of land, not to exceed^one mile square each ; the first of these 
to be at the crossing of the Muskingum, the second at the Hockhocking, and the third at 
the Scioto. It has been generally said that these were free grants to Mr. Zane, for opening 
the road: but an examination of the law will show that it was only a permission for Mr. 
Zane to locate his warrant on land which had not been appropriated to that purpose. Mr. 
Zane first proposed to cross the Muskingum at Duncan’s falls, but foreseeing the value of 
the hydraulic power created by the falls where Zanesville now stands, he crossed the river 
at that point, and thus became entitled to a section of land embracing the falls. Regarding 
the fertility of the soil and the beauty of the vicinity, his next choice was selected where 
Lancaster has since been built, rather than at the crossing of what now bears the name of 
Rush creek, which is really the main branch of the Hockhocking. At the Scioto, he was 
obliged to locate his warrant on the eastern side of the river, as the western shore lay 
within the Virginia military district. His location was made nearly opposite to Chillicothe. 
These choice tracts would no doubt have all been taken up before that time, but they had 
not been surveyed and brought into market. The country east of the Muskingum, and 
for some distance west, also, being hilly and comparatively poor, this was thought to be 
the least valuable section of the three, and E. Zane gave it to his brother Jonathan, and J. 
M’Intire, for assisting him and opening the road. 

One of the conditions annexed to the grant of Mr. Zane, was that he should keep ferries 
across these rivers during the pleasure of congress. Messrs. Zane and M’Intire gave the 
Muskingum ferry for five years to William M’Culloch and Henry Crooks, on condition that 
they should move to the place and keep the ferry, which they did. The ferry was kept 
about where the upper bridge is situated, and the ford was near the site of the present dam. 
The ferry-boat was composed of two canoes, with a stick lashed across. The first flat- 
boat used for the ferry, was one in which Mr. M’Intire removed from Wheeling, in 1799. 
Mr. Zane resided at Wheeling. The first mail ever carried in Ohio, was brought from 
Marietta to M’Culloch’s cabin, by Daniel Convers, in 1798, where, by the arrangement of 
the postmaster general, it met a mail from Wheeling and one from Limestone. M’Cul¬ 
loch, who could barely read, was authorized to assort the mails, and send each package 
in its proper direction, for which he received $30 per annum j but the service often fell to 


MUSKINGUM COUNTY, 


385 


the lot of Mr. Convers, as he was more expert. At that time, the aforesaid mails met here 
weekly. Four years after, a number of families having settled here, a regular post-office 
was opened, and Thomas Dowden appointed postmaster, who kept his office in a wooden 
building near the river, on Front street. 

In 1799, Messrs. Zane and M’lntire laid out the town, which they called Westbourn, a 
name which it continued to bear until a post-office was established by the postmaster gen¬ 
eral, under the name of Zanesville, and the village soon took the same name. A few 



First Hotel at Zanesville. 

families from the Kanawha, settled on the west side of the river soon after M’Culloch ar¬ 
rived, and the settlement received pretty numerous accessions until it became a point of 
importance. It contained one store and no tavern. The latter inconvenience however, 
was remedied by Mr. M’lntire, who, for public accommodation, rather than for private 
emolument, opened a house of entertainment. It is due to Mr. M’lntire and his lady, to 
say that their accommodations, though in a log cabin, were such as to render their house 
the traveller’s home. Prior to that time, there were several grog shops where travellers 
might stop, and after partaking of a rude supper, they could spread their blankets and bear¬ 
skins on the floor, and sleep with their feet to the fire. But the opening of Mr. M’lntire’s 
house introduced the luxury of comfortable beds, and although his board was covered with 
the fruits of the soil and the chase, rather than the luxuries of foreign climes, the fare was 
various and abundant. 

This, the first hotel at Zanesville, stood at what is now the comer of Market and Second 
streets, a few rods from the river, in an open maple grove, without any underbrush: it was 
a pleasant spot, well shaded with trees, and in full view of the falls. The engraving was 
made from the description of one who knew it well. Louis Phillipe, the present king of 
France, was once a guest of Mr. M’lntire. The Hon. Lewis Cass, in his “ Camp and 
Court of Louis Phillipe,” thus alludes to the circumstance. “ At Zanesville, the party 
found the comfortable cabin of Mr. M’lntire, whose name has been preserved in the king’s 
memory, and whose house wa9 a favorite place of rest and refreshment for all the travellers 
who, at this early period, were compelled to traverse that part of the country. And if 
these pages should chance to meet the eyes of any of those who, like the writer, have 
passed many a pleasant hour under the roof of this uneducated, but truly worthy and re¬ 
spectable man, he trusts they will unite in this tribute to his memory.” 

At that time, all the iron, nail, castings, flour, fruit, with many other articles now pro¬ 
duced here in abundance, were brought from Pittsburgh and Wheeling, either upon pack- 

49 









































386 


MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 


horses across the country, or by the river in canoes. Oats and corn were usually brought 
about fifty miles up the river, in canoes, and were worth from 75 cents to $1 per bushel. 
Flour, $6 to $8 per barrel. In 1802, David Harvey opened a tavern at the intersection of 
Third and Main streets, which was about the first shingled roofed house in the town. Mr. 
M’lntire having only kept entertainment for public accommodation, discontinued, after the 
opening of Mr. Harvey’s tavern. 

In 1804, when the legislature passed an act establishing the county of Muskingum, the 
commissioners appointed to select a site for the county seat, reported in favor of Zanesville. 
The buildings were yet few in number, and the streets and lots were principally covered 
with the native growth ; but the citizens, in order to put on the best appearance possible, 
turned out, while Zanesville was yet a candidate (if we may so speak) for the county seat, 
and cut out the bushes from some of the principal streets, and especially from the public 
square, that the situation might appear to the best possible advantage in the eyes of the 
commissioners. Some were anxious that the county seat should be at Coshocton, and 
others preferred the Cass section above Dresden, but Zanesville was finally selected, but in 
part because it was so near Marietta, as to render any county between the two places for¬ 
ever unnecessary. Muskingum included within its original limits the present counties of 
Muskingum and Coshocton, besides the greater part of what now constitutes the counties 
of Holmes, Tuscarawas and Guernsey, and a part of Perry, Morgan, Monroe and Carrol. 

The county seat having been established, the town improved more rapidly, and as the 
unappropriated United States military lands had been brought into market during the pre¬ 
ceding year, (1803,) and a land office established at Zanesville, many purchases and settle¬ 
ments were made in the county. The first court in Zanesville, sat in Harvey’s tavern. In 
a short time afterwards, a wooden jail was erected, and also a wooden building, the lower 
part of which served as a residence for the sheriff and his family, and the upper room was 
used as a court room and as a place for all public meetings, political or religious. These 
buildings stood between the site of the present court house and jail, and were afterwards 
burnt down by a negro, who was confined on a charge of larceny. 

An anecdote may serve to convey some idea of the difficulties of frontier life. It may 
also show that vice and crime were not less scorned then, than in later days. After the 
organization of the county, but before the erection of any public buildings, two men were 
apprehended on a charge of counterfeiting silver dollars. It w'as impracticable to send them 
to the jail at Marietta, a distance of sixty miles through the woods, until the next term of 
court, to wffiich they were bound over. To turn them loose or permit them to escape, 
would encourage others to depredate in like manner ; it was necessary, therefore, that they 
should be punished. Under these circumstances, Mr. M’lntire called on Daniel Convers, 
and in strong language stated his views, adding, “ we must take them in charge and keep 
them until court.” This was contrary to law, but as necessity knows no law, the justice 
was persuaded to surrender them to M’lntire and Convers, as they pledged themselves that 
if the prisoners were not forthcoming at the hour of trial, they would take their places and 
abide the penalty. After conducting them to a cabin selected for the purpose, and putting 
hand-cuffs on them, they were addressed by M’lntire, who, axe in hand, stood by the door: 
“ Now, boys,” said he, pointing to the blankets provided for their bed, “ there is your bed; 
with your guilt or innocence we have nothing to do,—you shall have plenty to eat and to 
drink, but,” added he, raising his right arm in a threatening manner, “ if you attempt to es¬ 
cape, d - n you, I'll kill you” The firm, resolute manner of the address, deterred them 

from making the attempt. M’lntire, with his axe by his side, took his seat by the door; 
and here, day after day and night after night, did he and his associates watch the prisoners 
until the term of court arrived, when they were tried and convicted. One confessed his 
crime, and told where their tools were secreted, about 18 miles off, on the Rocky fork of 
the Licking, where they were found and brought into court. Agreeably to the law then 
in force, he was sentenced to receive twenty-five lashes, well laid on, and to stand committed 
until all costs were paid. The other was to receive thirty-nine lashes, and also to be re¬ 
committed. Their sentence was immediately carried into effect, as to the stripes, which 
were well applied by Mr. Beymer, the sheriff. After having been re-committed to their 
prison, they were left on parole of honor, and their guards once more retired to their beds, 
free from care. Next morning, to the great gratification of all, it was found, notwithstand¬ 
ing their promise, to the contrary, they were among the missing; their hand-cuffs having 
been carefully laid away for the use of their successors. 

Mr. M’lntire, the founder and patron of Zanesville, was indefatigable in his attention to 
the interests of the town ; no personal or pecuniary sacrifice being considered too great, in 
his anxiety to promote its prosperity. 

The seat of government had been fixed temporarily at Chillicothe, but for several rea- 



MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 


387 


sons, many members of the legislature were dissatisfied, and it was known that a change 
of location was desired by them. Muskingum possessed natural advantages favorable to 
agricultural and manufacturing purposes, which gave Zanesville a fair prospect of becoming 
an extensive town; while its nearly central situation rendered it a desirable site for the 
state metropolis. It was believed, therefore, by many, that if once the legislature could be 
induced to fix the temporary seat here, it would not be removed, but made permanent. 
The citizens of the town and county were alive to the importance of obtaining the change, 
and a committee, consisting of John M’Intire and others, was appointed to visit Chillicothe 
during the session of the legislature, and make whatever pledge might be necessary on 
the part of the county, as well as to aid the Muskingum delegate in obtaining the passage 
of the desired law. At the session of 1808 and 1809, the Muskingum delegation received 
assurances from their friends in the legislature, that if the county, at its own expense, would 
furnish suitable buildings for the use of the legislature, a law would no doubt be passed for 
making Zanesville the place of meeting. Encouraged by the cheering prospect, the county 
commissioners determined to erect a brick building in front of the old court house, which 
would make a respectable state house, if the law of removal should be passed, and should 
they fail in that, it would make an excellent court house. The county was without funds, 
but a few public spirited individuals stepped forward and offered to loan the money, and the 
buildings were accordingly erected in the summer of 1809, but not finished. 

In February, 1810, the desired law was passed, fixing the seat of government at Zanes¬ 
ville, until otherwise provided. The county then went on to finish the buildings in such a 
manner as would best accommodate the legislature. A smaller building was also erected 
for the secretary of state and the treasurer. This building was used as a jail after the 
removal of the legislature, and the destruction of the old jail, until a new jail was erected 
in 1824, and afterwards, as offices for the clerk and county auditor. The county incurred 
a heavy debt in the erection of these buildings, and the county orders were long under par, 
but were ultimately redeemed. The legislature sat here during the sessions of TO,-’ll and 
T1-T2, when the present site of Columbus having been fixed upon for the permanent seat, 
the Chillicothe interest prevailed, and the temporary seat was once more fixed at that place, 
until suitable buildings could be erected at Columbus. 

The project of removing the seat of government was agitated as early as 1807 or ’8, and 
the anticipation entertained that Zanesville would be selected, gave increased activity to 
the progress of improvement. Much land was entered in the county, and many settlements 
made, although as late as 1813, land was entered within three miles of Zanesville. In 
1809, parts of the town plat were covered with the natural growth of timber. It was 
feared by some, that re-action would succeed the defeat of the favorite project of making 
Zanesville the state capital; but this was not so. The natural resources of the country, 
and the numerous local advantages, amply supplied the necessary objects of pursuit, and 
saved the country from the lethargy which frequently follows disappointed effort.* 

The annexed sketch of Zanesville, giving its condition, resources 
and prospects, is communicated by a citizen. 

Zanesville has long been regarded as one of the principal towns 
in the state, and once bid fair to yield the palm only to Cincinnati. 
But the extensive internal improvements of the state have built up 
her rivals, while they have cut off, to some extent, her trade, and 
checked the rapidity of her growth. Zanesville, however, has ad¬ 
vantages and resources which, when fully developed, must again 
give her a prominent place among the cities of the state. 

Zanesville is situated on the east bank, in a bend of the Musk¬ 
ingum river, about 80 miles above its mouth, by water, and 65 miles 
by land. The river seems once to have run nearly in a right line, 
from which, however, it has gradually diverged to the westward, 
forming a horse-shoe curve, and depositing, through successive cen¬ 
turies, an alluvion of gravel, sand, &c., of great depth, on which 
Zanesville now stands. In sweeping around this curve, through the 


* The preceding historical sketch of Zanesville, is from a series of editorial articles in 
the Zanesville Gazette, of 1835. 




388 


MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 


space of about If miles, the river falls 8 or 10 feet, and by the aid 
of a dam, a fall of between 16 and 17 feet is obtained, thus furnish¬ 
ing very extensive water power, which is used for hydraulic pur¬ 
poses. Near the toe of the shoe, Licking creek, or river, discharges 
her waters from the west, and while above the mouth of Licking, 
West Zanesville, containing some three hundred inhabitants, is lo¬ 
cated, South Zanesville, with nearly the same population, is situated 
immediately below. Further down the curve, and separated from 
South Zanesville by a bluff, is the beautiful village of Putnam, con¬ 
taining about 10 or 1200 inhabitants. A substantial and handsome 
bridge connects Zanesville with Putnam, while less than half a mile 
above, another similar bridge is thrown from Zanesville Main street, 
to a point in the stream, where the bridge forks, and one branch 
connects, on the route of the national or Cumberland road, with 
South Zanesville, while the other connects with West Zanesville, 
and the roads leading off in that direction. The “Cumberland 
road,” constructed by the national government, and originally de¬ 
signed to run from the town of Cumberland, in Maryland, at the 
eastern foot of the Alleghany mountains, indefinitely westward, as 
the country becomes settled, crosses the Muskingum river, at Zanes¬ 
ville, bearing upon it a constant and immense travel; while the 
Muskingum, made navigable for steamboats, by dams, locks and 
short canals, opens a trade southward to the Ohio, and northward to 
the Ohio canal, near Dresden, which is 16 miles above, by water. 
The low level of the Ohio canal, between Licking and Portage sum¬ 
mits, passes within 2 miles of Dresden, and a navigable side-cut of 
2j miles, connects the canal with the river, at that place, which is 
the head of steamboat navigation. The trade of Zanesville having, 
through the river and side-cut, reached the canal, is conveyed south¬ 
ward through the interior of the state, or northward to the lake, and 
thence through the New York canal, &c.: or leaving the Ohio canal, 
through the Sandy and Beaver, it may branch off towards Pitts¬ 
burgh and Philadelphia, before reaching Cleveland. The freight, 
however, designed for Pittsburgh and other points on the Ohio, and 
for the south, is usually shipped down the river upon steamboats, and 
on entering the Ohio, it may ascend or descend. One or more 
steamboats run regularly, during the business season, from Zanes¬ 
ville to Dresden, for the purpose of towing canal boats, carrying 
passengers, &c.; while others, of larger size, ply between Zanes¬ 
ville and Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New Orleans, &c. 

In addition to the hydraulic power furnished by the Muskingum 
and Licking, the hills which surround Zanesville abound in veins of 
bituminous coal, which lead to the free employment of steam power, 
and is almost exclusively used for fuel, except for cooking, and a 
good deal for that. But though Zanesville seems thus favored by 
nature with all the facilities for manufacturing, and art has con¬ 
structed avenues of communication in every direction favorable to 
the procurement of the raw material and the transmission of manu¬ 
factured goods, her citizens have not turned their attention hereto- 




































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 


389 


fore, so much as they might have done, in that direction. Their 
former great advantages in the salt and wheat trade, seem, with other 
circumstances not necessary to specify, to have shaped their course 
differently ; but the silent workings of causes growing out of public 
improvements, have satisfied business men that Zanesville must be 
made a manufacturing—a producing place—or diminish in impor¬ 
tance ; and a company is now, with praiseworthy spirit and enter- 
prize, erecting a cotton mill, which, it is believed, will be the fore¬ 
runner of many others. Zanesville should be the Lowell of the 
west; but this will never be brought about by old capitalists whose 
fortunes have been differently made, and whose thoughts have always 
run in other channels. A new population rising up and mingling 
with emigrants of skill and enterprize, may do it; but it must be in 
despite of such, as having amassed wealth, would play the part of 
the dog in the manger. 

At present, there are in the above mentioned cluster of towns, 
5 extensive flouring mills, 2 oil mills, 4 saw mills, 1 paper mill, on 
the most recent and approved plan of machinery, 5 iron founderies 
in active operation, and 2 others not doing business at present, 2 
manufactories of yellow-ware, of beautiful finish, and much used for 
culinary purposes, 2 manufactories of glass, 2 of woollen goods, 2 
machine shops, 1 last manufactory, with numerous other establish¬ 
ments of less note. There are 5 printing offices, 4 being in Zanes¬ 
ville, and 1 in Putnam. At these are published the Gazette, weekly ; 
the Courier, weekly and tri-weekly; the Aurora, weekly ; the West¬ 
ern Recorder, weekly ; and Lord’s Counterfeit Detector, monthly. 

There are in Zanesville, 2 Catholic churches, 2 Baptist, 2 Epis¬ 
copal Methodist, 1 Protestant Methodist, 3 Lutheran, 1 Presbyterian, 
1 Episcopalian, 1 Universalist and 1 African. Some of these are 
extensive and beautiful buildings. In Putnam, there is a handsome 
Presbyterian church, of the new school order, and a spacious Epis¬ 
copal Methodist church. For educational purposes, there is an ex¬ 
tensive female seminary in Putnam, designed as a boarding school, 
and male and female district schools. South Zanesville and West 
Zanesville have district school buildings; and in Zanesville, much 
attention has been bestowed upon that subject for a few years past. 
The founder of the town, John M’Intire, left his immense estate, 
now worth probably $200,000, to found and sustain a school for the 
benefit of the poor of Zanesville, and a handsome brick edifice has 
been erected for their accommodation. The town owns two large 
buildings, one for males, the other for females, in which schools 
are kept that acknowledge no superiors. Each building is capable 
of accommodating 800 scholars; and the scholars, under one gen¬ 
eral head, are classified and placed in charge of assistants, but may, 
on any extraordinary occasion, be all brought into one room. 
The price of tuition for the wealthy, is from 50 to 75 cents per 
quarter; the public money pays the rest. But the beauty of the 
system is, that such as are not able to pay, are admitted to all the 
advantages enjoyed by the most wealthy, even to the learned lan- 


390 


MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 


guages, without money and without price. Every child, then, in 
Zanesville, is provided with the means of education. 

There are in Zanesville upwards of thirty stores for the whole¬ 
saling and retailing of dry goods, besides hardware stores, wholesale 
and retail groceries, drug stores, confectionary establishments, shoe 
stores, hat stores, &c. 

The court house, with a western wing for public offices, and a 
similar one on the east for an atheneum, has a handsome enclosure, 
with shade trees and fountain in front, making altogether an object 
of interest to the passing traveller, and a place of pleasant resort 
for citizens. The atheneum was commenced as a library company, 
by a few individuals, nearly twenty years ago, and soon becoming 
incorporated, put up a handsome two story brick building, as a wing 
to the court house. The lower rooms are rented for offices, while 
the upper are occupied by the company for their reading room, 
library, &c. Strangers have, by the charter, a right of admission, 
and during their stay in Zanesville, can always find there access to 
many of the leading journals of the United States, and to a library 
of between 3 and 4000 volumes, embracing very many choice and 
rare books, in literature and science; while additions are annually 
made with the funds arising from rents and $5 per annum paid by 
each stockholder. There is a commencement for a cabinet of min¬ 
erals and curiosities; but that department has never flourished as 
its importance demands. 

The water works of Zanesville are very great. The water is 
thrown, by a powerful forcing pump, from the river, to a reservoir 
upon a hill half a mile distant, 160 feet above the level of the pump, 
and thence let down and distributed by larger and smaller pipes into 
every part of the town, furnishing an ample supply for public and 
private purposes, as well as providing a valuable safeguard against 
fire. By attaching hose at once to the fire plugs, the water may be 
thrown without the intervention of an engine, by the pressure of the 
head, far above the roofs of the houses. The public pipes are all of 
iron, and at present there are between six and seven miles of pipe 
owned by the town, besides that owned by individuals, and used in 
conveying water from the streets and alleys to their own hydrants. 
Much of this, however, is of lead. The cost to the town has been 
about $42,000. The reservoir is calculated to contain about 750,000 
gallons. The present population of Zanesville, is probably some¬ 
thing under 6,000, excluding Putnam, West Zanesville and South 
Zanesville. 

Putnam is less dense in its construction than Zanesville, and con¬ 
tains many beautiful gardens. It being principally settled by New 
Englanders, is in appearance a New England village. The town 
plat was owned, and the town laid out by Increase Matthews, Levi 
Whipple and Edwin Putnam. The latter two are dead; Dr. 
Matthews still resides in Putnam. 

The town was originally called Springfield, but there being a 
Springfield in Clarke county, the name of the former was changed 


MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 


391 


to Putnam. The view represents Putnam as it appears from the 
east bank of the Muskingum, about a mile below the steamboat 



Putnam. 


landing, at Zanesville. The bridge connecting Putnam with Zanes¬ 
ville, is seen on the right. On the left is shown a church, and the 
top of the seminary a little to the right of it. 

The Putnam Female Seminary is an incorporated institution, and 
has been in operation about 10 years. The principal edifice stands 
in an area of 3 acres, and cost, with its furniture, about $20,000. 
Pupils under 14 years of age are received into the preparatory de¬ 
partment. Those over 14 enter the upper department, in which 



The Putnam Female Seminary. 


the regular course of study requires 3 years, and excepting the lan¬ 
guages, is essentially like a college course. It is proposed soon to 
extend the time to 4 years, and make the course the same as in col¬ 
leges, substituting the German for Greek. The average number of 
































392 


MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 


pupils has been about 100. “By reason of the endowments, the 
term bills are very much less than at any similar school in the 
country. Exclusive of extra studies, the cost per year will not 
exceed $100 per scholar.” There are 5 teachers in this flourishing 
institution, of which Miss Mary Cone is the principal. It is under 
the general direction of a board of trustees. 

Dresden is situated on the Muskingum side cut of the Ohio canal, 
at the head of steamboat navigation on the Muskingum, 15 miles 
above Zanesville. It is the market of a large and fertile country by 
which it is surrounded, and does a heavy business. It possesses su¬ 
perior manufacturing advantages, there being a fall of twenty-nine 
feet from the main canal to low water mark on the river. The adja¬ 
cent hills abound with coal and iron ore. It contains 1 Presbyterian 
and 1 Methodist church, about 15 stores, a market house, and 1000 
or 1200 inhabitants. 

Taylorsville, laid out in 1832 by James Taylor, is on the Mus^ 
kingum, 9 miles below Zanesville, at what are called Duncan’s Falls, 
and has about 500 inhabitants. On the opposite side of the river is 
a village called Duncan’s Falls. In the two villages united, are 6 
stores, 1 Catholic, 1 Lutheran and 1 Methodist church, 1 fulling mill, 
1 carding machine, and two merchant mills. An Indian town existed 
in the neighborhood when the whites first made their settlement. 

Chandlersville, 10 miles se. of Zanesville, has 2 churches, 3 stores, 
and about 300 people. In boring for salt in that neighborhood, in 
January, 1820, some pieces of silver were dropped into the hole by 
some evil disposed person, and being brought up among the borings, 
reduced to a fine state, quite a sensation was produced. The parts 
were submitted to chemical analysis, and decided by a competent 
chemist to be very rich. A company was immediately formed to 
work the mine, under the name of “ the Muskingum Mining Com¬ 
pany,” which was incorporated by the legislature. This company 
purchased of Mr. Samuel Chandler, the privilege of sinking a shaft 
near his well, from which the silver had been extracted. As this 
shaft was sunk near the well, it did so much injury, that Mr. Chand¬ 
ler afterwards recovered heavy damages of the company. The com¬ 
pany expended about $10,000 in search of the expected treasure, 
ere they abandoned their ill-fated project. 

Norwich, 12 miles e. of Zanesville, on the national road, has 4 
stores, 2 churches, and about 500 inhabitants. The country in this 
region is well adapted to wheat, and the population embraces many 
substantial and independent farmers. 

New Concord, 3 miles east of Norwich, on the same road, has in 
the place or immediate vicinity, several churches, 3 stores, and 
about 400 inhabitants. Pleasantly located, on an eminence north of 
the central part of the village, is Muskingum College. In March, 
1837, the Trustees of New Concord Academy—an institution which 
had been in operation several years—w T ere vested with college 
powers by the legislature of Ohio, to be known by the name of Mus¬ 
kingum College. It is a strictly literary institution, and the first 


MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 


393 


class graduated in 1839. Al¬ 
though pecuniary embarrass¬ 
ments have impeded its pro¬ 
gress, it has continued uninter¬ 
ruptedly its operations as a col¬ 
lege. These difficulties having 
been recently removed, its pros¬ 
pects are brightening. 

Gratiot, on the national road, 
on the line of Licking county, 
contains 3 churches, 1 grist and 
1 saw mill, a carding machine, 
and about 300 inhabitants. 

The following are small vil¬ 
lages in the county. The lar- 
Muskmgum, College. gest con t a ins several stores and 

churches ; but none have over 300 inhabitants. Uniontown, or Ful- 
tonham, Roseville, Adamsville, Mount Sterling, Frazeyburg, Otsego, 
Irville, Meigsville, Nashport, Hopewell, Newtonville, Jackson and 
Bridgeville. 



OTTAWA. 

Ottawa was formed March 6th, 1840, from Sandusky, Erie and 
Lucas counties. Ottawa, says Bancroft, is an Indian word, signify¬ 
ing “ trader .” It was applied to a tribe, whose last home, in Ohio, 
was orr the banks of the Maumee. The surface is level, and most 
of the county is within the Black Swamp, and contains much prairie 
and marshy land. A great part of the soil is owned by land compa¬ 
nies in New York. A very small portion of the eastern part is within 
the “fire-lands.” There were but a few settlers previous to 1830, 
since which many have emigrated to it, from the central part of the 
state. On the peninsula which puts out into Lake Erie, are exten¬ 
sive plaster beds, from which large quantities of plaster are taken. 
Upon it are large limestone quarries, extensively worked. The 
principal crops are corn, potatoes, wheat and oats. The following 
is a list of the townships in 1840, with their population. 

Bay, 231 Erie, 196 Portage, 357 

Carroll, 262 Harris, 318 Salem, 108 

Clay, 176 Kelley’s Island, 68 Van Rensselaer, 27 

Danbury, 515 

The population of Ottawa, in 1840, was 2258, or about 6 inhabi¬ 
tants to a square mile. 

The first trial of arms in the war of 1812, upon the soil of Ohio, 
occurred in two skirmishes on the peninsula in this county, on the 
29th of September, 1812, between a party of soldiers, principally 

50 
















394 


OTTAWA COUNTY. 


from Trumbull and Ashtabula counties, under the command of Capt. 
Joshua T. Cotton, and a superior body of Indians. Our men be¬ 
haved with coolness and courage. The results were unimportant, 
and but a few were killed on either side.* 

That noted event in the late war, in the northwest— Perry's 
victory —took place on Lake Erie, only a few miles distant from the 
line of Ottawa. A description of this action, we annex, from Per¬ 
kins’s Late War. 

At Erie, Commodore Perry was directed to repair, and superintend a naval establishment, 
the object of which was to create a superior force on the lake. The difficulties of building 
a navy in the wilderness can only be conceived by those who have experienced them. 
There was nothing at this spot out of which it could be built, but the timber of the forest. 
Ship builders, sailors, naval stores, guns and ammunition, were to be transported by land, over 
bad roads, a distance of 400 miles, either from Albany by the way of Buffalo, or from Philadel¬ 
phia by the way of Pittsburgh. Under all these embarrassments, by the first of August, 1813, 
Commodore Perry had provided a flotilla, consisting of the ships Lawrence and Niagara of 
twenty guns each, and seven smaller vessels, to wit, one of four guns, one of three, two of 
two, and three of one ; in the whole fifty-four guns. While the ships were building, the 
enemy frequently appeared off the harbor and threatened their destruction ; but the shallow¬ 
ness of the water on the bar—there being but five feet—prevented their approach. The same 
cause, which insured the safety of the ships while building, seemed to prevent their being of 
any service. The two largest drew several feet more water than there was on the bar. The 
inventive genius of Commodore Perry, however, soon surmounted this difficulty. He placed 
large scows on each side of the two largest ships, filled them so as to sink to the water 
edge, then attached them to the ships by strong pieces of timber, and pumped out the water. 
The scows then buoyed up the ships so as to pass the bar in safety. This operation was 
performed on both the large ships, in the presence of a superior enemy. Having gotten his 
fleet in readiness, Commodore Perry proceeded to the head of the lake, and anchored in 
Put-in-Bay, opposite to, and distant thirty miles from Malden, where the British fleet lay 
under the guns of the fort. He lay at anchor here several days, watching the motions of 
the enemy, determined to give him battle the first favorable opportunity. On the 10th of 
September, at sunrise, the British fleet, consisting of one ship of nineteen guns, one of sev¬ 
enteen, one of thirteen, one of ten, one of three, and one of one, amounting to sixty-four, 
and exceeding the Americans by ten guns, under the command of Commodore Barclay, ap¬ 
peared off Put-in-Bay, distant about ten miles. Commodore Perry immediately got under 
weigh, with a light breeze at southwest. At 10 o’clock, the wind hauled to the southeast, 
which brought the American squadron to the windward, and gave them the weathergage. 
Commodore Perry, on board the Lawrence, then hoisted his union jack, having for a motto 
the dying words of Captain Lawrence, “ Dout give up the ship,” which was received with 
repeated cheers by the crew. 

He then formed the line of battle, and bore up for the enemy, who at the same time 
hauled his courses and prepared for action. The lightness of the wind occasioned the hos¬ 
tile squadrons to approach each other but slowly, and prolonged for two hours, the solemn 
interval of suspense and anxiety which precedes a battle. The order and regularity of naval 
discipline heightened the dreadful quiet of the moment. No noise, no bustle, prevailed to 
distract the mind, except at intervals, the shrill pipings of the boatswain’s whistle, or a mur¬ 
muring whisper among the men, who stood around their guns, with lighted matches, nar¬ 
rowly watching the movements of the foe, and sometimes stealing a glance at the counte¬ 
nances of their commanders. In this manner, the hostile, fleets gradually neared each 
other in awful silence. At fifteen minutes after eleven, a bugle was sounded on board the 
enemy’s headmost ship, Detroit, loud cheers burst from all their crews, and a tremendous 
fire opened upon the Lawrence, from the British long guns, which, from the shortness of the 
Lawrence’s, she was obliged to sustain for forty minutes without being able to return a shot. 

Commodore Perry, without waiting for the other ships, kept on his course in such gallant 
and determined style, that the enemy supposed he meant immediately to board. At five 
minutes before twelve, having gained a nearer position, the Lawrence opened her fire, but 


*Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, then a lad of 16, was present on the occasion. In the La¬ 
dies’ Repository was published two or three years since a lengthy account of these skir¬ 
mishes from his pen. 



OTTAWA COUNTY. 


395 


the long guns of the British still gave them greatly the advantage, and the Lawrence was 
exceedingly cut up without being able to do but very little damage in return. Their shot 
pierced her side in all directions, killing the men in the birth-deck and steerage, where they 
had been carried to be dressed. One shot had nearly produced a fatal explosion; passing 
through the light room, it knocked the snuff of the candle into the magazine ; fortunately, 
the gunner saw it, and had the presence of mind immediately to extinguish it. It appeared 
to be the enemy’s plan, at all events to destroy the commodore’s ship ; their heaviest fire 
was directed against the Lawrence, and blazed incessantly from all their largest vessels. 
Commodore Perry, finding the hazard of his situation, made all sail, and directed the other 
vessels to follow, for the purpose of closing with the enemy. The tremendous fire, how¬ 
ever, to which he was exposed, soon cut away every brace and bowline of the Lawrence, 
and she became unmanageable. The other vessels were unable to get up ; and in this dis¬ 
astrous situation, she sustained the main force of the enemy’s fire for upwards of two hours, 
within cannister distance, though a considerable part of the time not more than two or 
three of her guns could be brought to bear on her antagonist. The utmost order and regu¬ 
larity prevailed during this scene of horror ; as fast as the men at the guns were wounded, 
they were carried below, and others stepped into their places; the dead remained where 
they fell, until after the action. At this juncture, the enemy believed the battle to be won. 
The Lawrence was reduced to a mere wreck; her deck was streaming with blood, and 
covered with the mangled limbs and bodies of the slain ; nearly the whole of her crew were 
either killed or wounded ; her guns were dismounted, and the commodore and his officers 
helped to work the last that was capable of service. At two, Capt. Elliott was enabled, by 
the aid of a fresh breeze, to bring his ship into close action in gallant style ; and the com¬ 
modore immediately determined to shift his flag on board that ship ; and giving his own in 
charge to Lieut. Yarnell,he hauled down his union jack, and taking it under his arm, ordered 
a boat to put him on board the Niagara. Broadsides were levelled at his boat, and a shower 
of musketry from three of the enemy’s ships. He arrived safe and hoisted his union jack, 
with its animating motto, on board the Niagara. Capt. Elliott, by direction of the commo¬ 
dore, immediately put off in a boat, to bring up the schooners, which had been kept back 
by the lightness of the wind. At this moment, the flag of the Lawrence was hauled down. 
She had sustained the principal force of the enemy’s fire for two hours, and was rendered 
incapable of defence. Any further show of resistance would have been a useless sacrifice 
of the relics of her brave and mangled crew. The enemy were at the same time so crip¬ 
pled, that they were unable to take possession of her, and circumstances soon enabled her 
crew again to hoist her flag. Commodore Perry now gave the signal to all the vessels for 
close action. The small vessels, under the direction of Captain Elliott, got out their sweeps, 
and made all sail. Finding the Niagara but little injured, the commander determined upon 
the bold and desperate-expedient of breaking the enemy’s line ; he accordingly bore up and 
passed the head of the two ships and brig, giving them a raking fire from his starboard 
guns, and also a raking fire upon a large schooner and sloop, from his larboard quarter, at 
half pistol shot. Having gotten the whole squadron into action, he luffed and laid his ship 
alongside of the British commodore. The small vessels having now got up within good 
grape and canister distance on the other quarter, enclosed their enemy between them and 
the Niagara, and in this position kept up a most destructive fire on both quarters of the 
British, until every ship struck her colors. 

The engagement lasted about three hours, and never was victory more decisive and com¬ 
plete. More prisoners were taken than there were men on board the American squadron 
at the close of the action. The principal loss in killed and wounded was on board the 
Lawrence, before the other vessels were brought into action. Of her crew, twenty-two 
were killed, and sixty wounded. When her flag was struck, but twenty men remained on 
deck fit for duty. The loss on board of all the other vessels, was only five killed, and thir¬ 
ty-six wounded. The British loss must have been much more considerable. Commodore 
Barclay was dangerously wounded. He had lost one arm in the battle of Trafalgar. The 
other was now rendered useless, by the loss of a part of his shoulder-blade; he received also 
a severe wound in the hip. 

Commodore Perry, in his official dispatch, speaks in the highest terms of respect and 
commisseration for his wounded antagonist, and asks leave to grant him an immediate parole. 
Of Capt. Elliott, his second in command, he says, “ that he is already so well known to the 
government, that it would be almost superfluous to speak. In this action, he evinced his cha¬ 
racteristic bravery and judgment, and since the close of it, has given me the most able and 
essential assistance.” The bold and desperate measure of pressing forward into action with 
the Lawrence alone, and exposing her to the whole fire of the enemy’s fleet for two hours, 
before the other ships could be got up, has been censured as rash, and not warranted by tho 


396 


OTTAWA COUNTY. 


rules of naval war; but there are seasons when the commander must rely more on the 
daring promptness of his measures, than on nice calculations of comparative strength. Nei¬ 
ther Bonaparte nor Nelson ever stopped to measure accurately the strength of the respective 
combatants. The result is the acknowledged and generally the best criterion of merit; and 
it should not detract from the eclat of the successful commander, that his measures were 
bold and decisive. 

Two days after the battle, two Indian chiefs, who had been selected for their skill as 
marksmen, and stationed in the tops of the Detroit, for the purpose of picking off the Ameri¬ 
can officers, were found snugly stowed away in the hold of the Detroit. These savages, 
who had been accustomed to ships of no greater magnitude than what they could sling on 
their backs, when the action became warm, were so panic-struck at the terrors of the scene, 
and the strange perils that surrounded them, that, looking at each other with amazement, 
they vociferated their significant “ quonh,” and precipitately descended to the hold. In 
their British uniforms hanging in bags upon their famished bodies, they were brought before 
Commodore Perry, fed, and discharged ; no further parole being necessary, to prevent their 
afterwards engaging in the contest. The slain of the crews of both squadrons were com¬ 
mitted to the lake immediately after the action. The next day, the funeral obsequies of 
the American and British officers who had fallen, were performed at an opening on the 
margin of the bay, in an appropriate and affecting manner. The crews of both fleets 
united in the ceremony. The stillness of the weather—the procession of boats—the music 
—the slow and regular motion of the oars, striking in exact time with the notes of the 
solemn dirge—the mournful waving of the flags—the sound of the minute-guns from all the 
ships—the wild and solitary aspect of the place, gave to these funeral rites a most impres¬ 
sive influence, and formed an affecting contrast with the terrible conflict of the preceding 
day. Then the people of the two squadrons were engaged in the deadly strife of arms; 
now they were associated as brothers, to pay the last tribute of respect to the slain of both 
nations. Two American officers, Lieutenant Brooks and Midshipman Laub, of the Law¬ 
rence ; and three British, Captain Finnis and Lieutenant Stoke of the Charlotte, and Lieu¬ 
tenant Garland of the Detroit, lie interred by the side of each other, in this lonely place, on 
the margin of the lake, a few paces from the beach. 

This interesting battle was fought midway of the lake, between the two hostile armies, 
who lay on the opposite shores, waiting in anxious expectation, its result. The allied 
British and Indian forces, to the amount of four thousand five hundred, under Proctor and 
Tecumseh, were at Malden, ready, in case of a successful issue, to renew their ravages on 
the American borders. 

Port Clinton, the county seat, laid out in 1827, is 120 miles north 
of Columbus. It is situated on a beautiful bay, on the right bank of 
Portage river. It has a good harbor—in which is a light-house—and 
about 60 dwellings. It is about the only village in the county, and 
may ultimately be a place of considerable trade. 

Most of the islands in Lake Erie are off this county. Their exact 
situation and size was not known, until the recent survey by the 
United States government, and all the maps heretofore published are 
erroneous respecting them. 

Kelly’s Island, recently formed into a township of the same name, 
has 18 families, and 2800 acres. It is resorted to by steamers, for 
wood and water, and harborage in storms. Its harbor is good, and 
large quantities of excellent limestone are quarried, for building and 
other purposes: some of the most elegant structures in Detroit are 
built with it. The Put-in-Bay islands are North, South and Middle 
Bass, Sugar, Gibraltar, Strontian—so called from the quantity of 
strontian found there—with numerous small islets, containing half an 
acre and less. . South Bass is the largest, and contains about 1300 
acres. Upon it are several caves, which are much visited. Some 
of the officers slain at Perry’s victory were hastily buried here, 
in the sand near the shore, and many of the bones have been 
washed away by the invading waters. Middle and North Bass 


PAULDING COUNTY. 


397 


have each about 700 acres. On Middle Bass is one family, and on 
South Bass two or three. This cluster is about 8 miles nw. of 
Kelly’s Island, which, with that, are within the legal jurisdiction of 
this county. 

Point-au-Pele—so called from lying off a locality of that name in 
Canada—is the largest island in the lake, being about 8 miles in 
length. It was on the ice near this island, that “ the patriots”—so 
called, under Capt. Bradley, of Sandusky City, had the skirmish with 
the British cavalry a few years since, and repulsed them. The three 
Sisters—East, Middle and West Sister—are uninhabited. The last 
is the largest, and has not over 50 or 60 acres. Middle island has 
about the same area, and the Hen and Chickens are quite small. 


PAULDING. 

Paulding was formed from old Indian territory, April 1st, 1820. 
It was named from John Paulding, a native of Peekskill, N. Y., and 
one of the three militia men who captured Major Andre, in the war 
of the revolution: he died in 1818. The surface is level, and the 
county covered by the Black Swamp. The principal crops are 
corn, wheat and oats. The following is a list of the townships in 
1840, with their population. 

Auglaize, 298 Carroll, 345 

Brown, 181 Crain, 211 

The population of Paulding, in 1840, was 1035, or about 2 inhab¬ 
itants to a square mile. 

Charloe, the county seat, is on the Auglaize river and Miami Ex¬ 
tension canal, 137 miles nw. of Columbus, and 12 south of Defiance. 
It was laid out about the year 1840, and contains a few families only. 
Ockenoxy’s town stood on the site of Charloe—so called from a 
chief who resided there, and who was reputed an obstinate, cruel 
man. The village, later, was called Charloe, from an Ottawa chief, 
distinguished for his eloquence and sprightliness in debate. 

Five miles north, at the junction of the Wabash and Erie and 
Miami Extension canals, is a small village, called Junction. Eleven 
miles west from the junction, on the Wabash and Erie canal, is 
Antwerp, also a small town. 


PERRY. 

Perry was formed March 1st, 1817, from Washington, Muskingum 
and Fairfield, and named from Commodore Oliver H. Perry. The 
surface is mostly rolling, and in the south hilly, the soil is clayey, and 
in the middle and northern part fertile. Much excellent tobacco is 




398 


PERRY COUNTY. 


raised in the southern part, and wheat in the centre and north. The 
principal productions are wheat, corn, oats, hay, tobacco, beef cattle, 
pork and wool. The following is a list of the townships in 1840, 


with their population. 
Bearfield, 1455 
Clayton, 1602 
Harrison, 1034 
Hopewell, 1544 


Jackson, 1700 Reading, 3936 

Madison, 1167 Salt Lick, 1243 

Monday Creek, 986 Thorn, 2006 

Monroe, 999 

The population of Perry, in 1820, was 8429, in 1830, 14,063, and 
in 1840, 19,340 ; or 48 inhabitants to a square mile. 

This county was first settled by Pennsylvania Germans, about the 
years 1802 and 1803. Offthe early settlers the names of the follow¬ 
ing are recollected : John Hammond, David Pugh, Robt. M’Clung, 
Isaac Brown, John and Anthony Clayton, Isaac Reynolds, Daniel 
Shearer, Peter Overmyer, Adam Binckley, Wm. and Jacob Dusen- 
bury, John Poorman, John Finck, Daniel Parkinson and John Lash- 
ley. The first church erected in the county was at New Reading: 
it was a Lutheran church, of which the Rev. Mr. Foster was the 
pastor: shortly after, a Baptist church was built about three miles 
east of Somerset. 

The road through this county was, “from 1800 to 1815, the great 
thoroughfare between Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and the eastern states, 
or until steamboat navigation created a new era in the history of 
travellers—a perpetual stream of emigrants rolled westward along 
its course, giving constant occupation to hundreds of tavern keepers, 
seated at short distances along its borders, and consuming all the 
spare grain raised by the inhabitants for many miles north and south 
of its line. Groups of merchants on horseback, with led horses, laden 
with Spanish dollars, travelled by easy stages every spring and 
autumn along its route, congregated in parties of ten or twenty in¬ 
dividuals, for mutual protection, and armed with dirks, pocket pistols, 
and pistols in holsters, as robberies sometimes took place in the more 
wilderness parts of the road. The goods, when purchased, were 
wagoned to Pittsburgh, and sent in large flat boats, or keel boats, to 
their destination below, while the merchant returned on horseback 
to his home, occupying eight or ten weeks in the whole tour.” 

Somerset, the county seat, is 43 miles easterly from Columbus, on 
the Macadamized road leading from Zanesville to Lancaster, from 
each of which it is 18 miles, or midway, which circumstance gave it, 
when originally laid out, the name of Middletown. 

In 1807, John Finck erected the first log-cabin in the vicinity of 
the place. Having purchased a half section of land, he laid out, in 
1810, the eastern part of the town : the western part was laid out by 
Jacob Miller. They became the first settlers: the first died about 
11, and the last about 20 years since. The present name, Somerset, 
was derived from Somerset, Penn., from which place and vicinity 
most of the early settlers came. The board of directors of the 
Lutheran seminary at Columbus have voted to remove it to this 
place. The town contains 1 Lutheran, 2 Catholic and 1 Methodist 


PERRY COUNTY. 


309 


church; 1 iron foundery, 1 tobacco warehouse, 3 newspaper print¬ 
ing offices, 16 mercantile stores, and about 1400 inhabitants. A very 
large proportion of the population of the county are Catholics. They 



View in Somerset. 


have in the town a nunnery, to which is attached St. Mary’s semi¬ 
nary, a school for young females. It is well conducted, and many 
Protestant families send their daughters here to be educated. The 
Catholics are also about building a college for the reception of all 
disposed to patronize it. 

About two miles south of Somerset are the buildings shown in the 
annexed view. The elegant building in the centre is St. Joseph’s 
church, recently erected ; on the right is seen the convent building; 



Convent of Dominican Friars, <f-c. 


the structure partly shown beyond St. Joseph’s church, is the oldest 
Catholic church in the state. The history, of which we give an ex- 




































400 


PERRY COUNTY. 


tract from an article in the United States Catholic Magazine for 
January, 1847, entitled “the Catholic Church in Ohio.” 

The first chapel, of which we have any auihentic record, that was ever consecrated to 
Almighty God w'ithin our borders, was St. Joseph’s, in Perry county, which was solemnly 
blessed on the 6th of December, 1818, by Rev. Edward Fenwick and his nephew, Rev. N. 
D. Young, of the order of St. Dominic, both natives of Maryland, and deriving their juris¬ 
diction from the venerable Dr. Flaget, who was then the only bishop between the Alle¬ 
ghenies and the Mississippi. This chapel was first built of logs, to which an addition of 
stone was subsequently made, so that it was, for a considerable time, “ partly logs and partly 
stone.” When the congregation, which consisted of only ten families when the chapel was 
first opened, had increased in number, the logs disappeared, and a new addition, or, to 
speak more correctly, a separate church of brick marked the progress of improvement, and 
afforded new facilities for the accommodation of the faithful. An humble convent, whose 
reverend inmates, one American, N. D. Young, one Irishman, Thomas Martin, and one 
Belgian, Vincent de Rymacher, cheerfully shared in all the hardships and privations inci¬ 
dent to the new colony, was erected near the church, and, from its peaceful precincts, the 
saving truths of faith were conveyed, and its divine sacraments administered to many a weary 
emigrant who had almost despaired of enjoying those blessings in the solitude which he had 
selected for his home. The benedictions of the poor, and the refreshing dews of heaven, 
descended on the spiritual seed thus sown. It increased and multiplied the hundred fold. 
New congregations were formed in Somerset, Lancaster, Zanesville, St. Barnabas, Morgan 
county, Rehoboth and St. Patrick’s, seven miles from St. Joseph's, and in Sapp’s settle¬ 
ment, and various other stations still more distant, was the white habit of St. Dominic 
hailed by the lonely Catholic as the harbinger of glad tidings, and the symbol of the joy, 
the purity, and the triumphs which attest the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the fulfilment 
of the promises made by her divine founder to the church. 

At this place, a number of young men are being educated for the 
priesthood of the Dominican order. A large library is connected 
with the institution, which affords facilities to the students in be¬ 
coming acquainted with church history and literature. Among them 
are the writings of many of the fathers and rare books, some of 
which were printed before the discovery of America. 

In this county are many ancient mounds, of various dimensions, 
and four or five miles in a nw. direction from Somerset, is an ancient 
stone fort. Although irregular in shape, it approaches a triangle. 
Near the center is a stone mound, about 12 feet high, and in the wall 
a smaller one. The fort encloses about forty acres. Just south of it 
is a square work, containing about half an acre. 

Thornville, 9 miles n. of Somerset, near the reservoir of the feeder 
of the Ohio canal, is a thriving town, containing 2 churches, several 
forwarding houses, 3 stores, and about 500 inhabitants. 

“ This portion of country was settled about 1810; land was then so cheap in the neigh¬ 
borhood that one Beesacker purchased 20 acres for an old black mare ; luckily, in laying 
out the country, two important roads intersected his purchase. He immediately had it sur¬ 
veyed into town lots: naming it New Lebanon, an embryo town sprung into existence. 
This took place about 1815. It was afterwards changed to Thornville, from being in the 
township of Thorn.” 

New Lexington, 9 miles s. of Somerset, contains 4 stores, 3 
churches, and about 300 inhabitants. Rehoboth, 7 miles se. of Som¬ 
erset, has 2 churches, 3 stores, 2 tobacco warehouses, and about 300 
people. New Reading, Crossinville, Oakfield and Straitsville are 
also small places, the first of which, by the census of 1840, had 193 
inhabitants. 


PICKAWAY COUNTY. 


401 


PICKAWAY. 


Pickaway was formed Jan. 12th, 1810, from Ross, Fairfield and 
Franklin: the name is a mis-spelling of Piqua , the name of a tribe 
of the Shawanoese, for the signification of which see page 362. The 
name was immediately derived from the plains in the county. The 
surface is level, and the soil generally very fertile and productive in 
grain. In many places the eye will take in at a single glance 500 
acres of corn at one view. The country has the four varieties of 
woodland, barren, plain and prairie. The barrens were originally 
covered with shrub oak, and were at first supposed to be valueless, 
but proved to be excellent for grass and oats. The original settlers 
were mainly from Pennsylvania and Virginia. The principal pro¬ 
ductions are corn, wheat, oats, grass, pork, wool and neat cattle. 
The following is a list of the townships in 1840, with their population. 
Circleville, 2973 Madison, 851 Scioto, 920 
Muhlenburgh, 653 
Monroe, 1352 
Pickaway, 1574 
Salt Creek, 1815 

The population of Pickaway in 1820, was 18,143, in 1830, 15,935, 
and in 1840, 20,169 ; or 40 inhabitants to the square mile. 

Much of the land on the west side of the Scioto is farmed by 
tenants, who receive either a certain proportion of the profits, or pay 
stated rents. The farther removed the ownership of land from those 
who cultivate it, the worse is it for the development of the resources 
of a country. Slavery is worse than the tenant system, and actual 
ownership the best of all. Hence it is that the Virginia military dis¬ 
trict, much of which is held in large tracts by wealthy men, with 
tenants under them, does not thrive as well as some other parts of 
the state having a poorer soil, but cultivated by those who both hold 
the plow and own the land. 


Darby, 1052 

Deer Creek, 1376 
Harrison, 1149 
Jackson, 993 


Walnut, 1798 
W ashington, 1194 
Wayne, 779 


Within the county, on the west side of the river, is a territory of about 290 square miles, 
containing a population of 8,376, averaging a fraction less than 30 to the square mile ; while 
the territory on the east side of the river, within the county, embracing only 209 square 
miles, sustains a population of 11,349—averaging almost 55 to the square mile. This dis¬ 
parity in the density of population of the territory on the east and west sides of the river, 
arises principally from four causes: 1st, the large surveys in which the land on the west side 
of the river was originally located. This prevented persons of small means from seeking 
farms there; 2d, the difficulty of finding the real owner of these surveys, who generally 
resided in some of the southern Atlantic states, or Kentucky, and who frequently had no 
agent here to sub-divide, show, or sell the lands; 3d, the frequent interference of different 
entries and surveys there with each other, which rendered the titles insecure. Though only 
a small portion of the lands were subject to this last difficulty, yet many persons were there¬ 
by deterred from purchasing and settling upon them; 4th, the greater disposition in the 
inhabitants there to engross large tracts of land, instead of purchasing smaller tracts, and 
expending more upon their improvements. This last continues to be the great obstacle in 
the way of increase of population now on those lands. 

To an observing traveller, passing directly through the county from east to west, the con¬ 
trast is very striking. While on the one side he finds the lands well improved, with fields 
of moderate size, well fenced, with a good barn and neat dwelling house to each adjacent 
farm ; on the other, he finds occasionally baronial mansions, “ like angel’s visits, few and 

51 


402 


PICKAWAY COUNTY. 


far between,” with rarely a barn, and each field large enough for two or three good farms. 
Between these mansions he will find the old pioneer log dwellings, and the slovenly culti¬ 
vation of the first settlers. The prices of the same quality of land on the east side are 
generally about double those on the west side. A part of this difference in the artificial 
appearance and cultivation of the country upon the opposite sides of the river, results, no 
doubt, from the different origin of the inhabitants. Those on the east side originated 
mostly from Pennsylvania; while those on the west side had their origin generally in the 
more northern slave states. Habits brought with the first emigrants cannot be changed at 
once, though time and the operation of our laws will gradually modify them. Already, in 
several neighborhoods west of the river, the plan of smaller farms and better improvements 
has commenced ; and a few years of prosperous industry will produce the neat farm cottage 
and the well-stored barn, with the productive fields of variegated crops and delicious fruits, 
which render the pursuits of agriculture so desirable. These are the blessings designed by 
a bountiful Benefactor to compensate for the toils, exposures and hardships incident to the 
pursuit of farming. Without these comforts, it would be the barren drudgery of the toil- 
worn slave * 

Three and a half miles south of Circleville are the celebrated 
Pickaway Plains , said to contain the richest body of land in Ohio. 
“ They are divided into two parts, the greater or upper plains, and 



Map of the Ancient Shawanoese Towns , on the Pickaway Plain , 

[ Explanations . A. Ancient works, on which Circleville now stands. B. Logan’s cabin 
at Old Chillicothe, now Westfall, four miles below Circleville : from this place a trail led 
through Grenadier Squaw town, and from thence up the Congo valley, and crossed to the 
opposite side of the creek, about 1^ miles from its mouth. C. Black mountain, a short dis- 


* Historical sketch of Pickaway county. 












PICKAWAY COUNTY. 


403 


tance west of the old Barr mansion. D. Council house, a short distance ne. of the resi¬ 
dence ofWm. Renick, jr. The two parallel lines at this point represent the gauntlet through 
which prisoners were forced to run, and 0. the stake at which they were burnt, which last 
is on a commanding elevation. F. The camp of Col. Lewis, just south of the residence of 
Geo. Wolf. E. The point where Lord Dunmore met with and stopped the army of Lewis 
when on their way to attack the Indians : it is opposite the mansion of Major John Boggs. 
G. The residence of Judge Gills, near which is shown the position of Camp Charlotte.] 

the lesser or lower one. The soil was very black when first culti¬ 
vated : the result of vegetable decomposition through a long succes¬ 
sion of ages. These plains are based on water-worn gravel and 
pebbles. The upper plain is at least 150 feet above the bed of the 
river, which passes about a mile west of them. Their form is ellip¬ 
tical, with the longest diameter from northeast to southwest, being 
about seven miles by three and a half or four miles. They were 
destitute of trees when first visited by the whites. The fertility was 
such as to produce one hundred bushels of corn, or fifty of wheat, to 
the acre, for many years, but they are now less productive.” These 
plains have but few trees or shrubs within reach of the eye, except 
along the distant borders. The early settlers in the vicinity pro¬ 
cured all their fodder, a coarse, natural grass, from the plains, which 
grew several feet above a man’s head. It was extremely difficult 
to break up, requiring the strongest teams. The cultivation of corn, 
which grew to the height of 12 or 15 feet, weakened their natural fer¬ 
tility. Originally, the plains were adorned with a great variety of 
beautiful flowers. 

The annexed map is reduced from one 20j inches by 17j, made 
from the survey of P. N. White, for Felix Renick, of Ross. The 
country represented is about 7 miles square. Of all places in the 
west, this pre-eminently deserves the name of “ classic ground.” 
Here, in olden time, burned the council-fires of the red man; here 
the affairs of the nation in general council were discussed, and the 
important questions of peace and war decided. On these plains the 
allied tribes marched forth and met General Lewis, and fought the 
sanguinary battle at Point Pleasant. Here it was that Logan made 
his memorable speech, and here, too, that the noted campaign of 
Dunmore was brought to a close by a treaty, or rather a truce, at 
Camp Charlotte. 

From the “Remarks” appended to this map, by Mr. Renick, we 
extract the following. 

Among the circumstances which invest this region with extraordinary interest, is the fact, 
that to those towns were brought so many of the truly unfortunate prisoners who were ab¬ 
ducted from the neighboring states. Here they were immolated on the altar of the red 
man’s vengeance, and made to suffer, to the death, all the tortures savage ingenuity could 
invent, as a sort of expiation for the aggressions of their race. Strange does it seem that 
human beings, on whom nature had bestowed such riches of intellect, could be brought, by 
force of habit, not only to commit, but to delight in committing, such enormous cruelties as 
they often practised on many of their helpless victims—acts which had the direct effect of 
bringing down retaliation, in some form or other, on their own heads. But that they should 
contend to the last extremity for so delightful a spot, will not be wondered at by the most 
common observer on a view of the premises. For picturesqueness, fertility of soil, and every 
other concomitant to make it desirable for human habitation, it is not surpassed by any 
other locality in the western country, or perhaps in the world. The towns were well sup¬ 
plied with good spring water j some of the adjacent bottom lands were susceptible of being 


404 


PICKAWAY COUNTY, 


made to produce, as nature has left them, one hundred bushels of Indian com to the acre, 
and all other grains and vegetables in proportion. 

The Black Mountain, represented on the map by C, (so called by the natives, but why 
so named tradition hath not informed us,) is a ridge somewhat in the shape of an inverted 
boat, elevated from 130 to 150 feet above the bottom prairie immediately in its vicinity, 
and commands from its summit a full view of the high plains and the country around it to 
a great extent. This facility the natives enjoyed, for they were in the practice yearly of 
burning over the country, which kept down the undergrowth, while the larger growth was 
so sparse as not materially to intercept the view. This elevated ridge answered the Indian 
some valuable purposes. No enemy could approach, in day time, who could not, from its 
summit, be descried at a great distance ; and by repairing thither, the red man could often 
have a choice of the game in view, and his sagacity seldom failed him in the endeavor to 
approach it with success. The burning-ground, in the suburbs of Grenadier Squawtown, 
represented in the map, was also situated on an elevated spot, which commands a full view 
of all the other towns within the drawing, so that when a victim was at the stake, and the 
flames ascending, all of the inhabitants of the other towns, who could not be present, might, 
in a great measure, enjoy the scene by sight and imagination. The burning-ground at Old 
Chillicothe was somewhat similar, being in full view of the burning-ground at Squawtown, 
the Black Mountain, and two or three other small towns in other parts of the plains. 

The Grenadier squaw, whose name the above town bore, was a sister to Cornstalk. She 
was represented as being a woman of great muscular strength; and, like her brother, pos¬ 
sessed of a superior intellect. 

From accounts most to be relied on, it was to Grenadier Squawtown that Slover, who 
was taken prisoner at Crawford’s defeat, in 1782, was brought to suffer a similar death to 
that which Crawford, his commander, had undergone a few days before, but from which, 
through Providential aid, he was relieved and enabled to make his escape. The circum¬ 
stances of his escape have been previously published ; but as they seem to be inseparably 
connected with the history of this spot, I hope to be excused for repeating them here. After 
his capture, on his way thither, he had been very much abused at the different towns he 
passed through, beaten with clubs, &c. On his arrival here he had a similar punish¬ 
ment to undergo. A council was held over him, and he was doomed to die the death 
that Crawford had suffered. The day was appointed for the consummation of the horrid 
deed, and its morning daWned without any unpropitious appearances to mar the antici¬ 
pated enjoyments of the natives collected from the neighboring towns to witness the scene. 
At the appointed time, Slover was led forth, stripped naked, tied to the fatal stake, and the 
fire kindied around him. Just as his tormentors were about to commence the torture, it 
seemed that the Great Spirit looked down, and said, “ No ! this horrid deed shall not be 
done !” Immediately the heavens were overcast ; the forked lightnings in all directions 
flew; in mighty peals the thunder rolled, and seemed to shake the earth to its centre ; the 
rain in copious torrents fell, and quenched the threatening flames before they had done the 
victim much injury—continuing to a late hour. The natives stood dumb-founded—some¬ 
what fearing that the Great Spirit was not pleased with what they were about to do. But 
had they been never so much inclined, there was not time left that evening to carry out 
their usual savage observances. Slover was therefore taken from the stake, and conducted 
to an empty house, to an upper log of which he was fastened by a buffalo-tug tied around 
his neck, and his arms were pinioned behind him by a cord. Two warriors were set over 
him as a guard, to prevent his escape in the night. Here again Providence seemed to in¬ 
terfere in favor of Slover, by causing a restless sleep to come over his guard. Until a late 
hour the Indians sat up, smoking their pipes and talking to Slover—using all their ingenuity 
to tantalize him, asking “ how he would like to eat fire,” &c. At length one of them lay 
down, and soon fell asleep. The other continued smoking and talking with Slover some 
time. After midnight, a deep sleep came upon him. He also lay down, and soon thought 
of nothing save in dreams of the anticipated pleasure to be enjoyed in torturing their pris¬ 
oner next day. Slover then resolved to make an effort to get loose, and soon extricated 
one of his hands from the cords. He then tried to unloose the tug around his neck, but 
without effect. He had not long been thus engaged before one of the Indians got up and 
smoked his pipe. While he was thus engaged, Slover kept very still for fear of a discovery; 
but the Indian being again overcome with sleep, again lay down. Slover then renewed 
his exertions, but for some time without effect, and he resigned himself to his fate. After 
resting awhile, however, he resolved to make another and a last effort. He put his hand 
again to the tug, and, as he related, he slipped it over his head without difficulty. He then 
got out of the house as quietly as possible, sprang over a fence into a cornfield. While 
passing through the field he came near running over a squaw and her children, who were 


PICKAWAY COUNTY. 


405 


sleeping under a tree. To avoid discovery, he deviated from a straight tract, and rapidly 
hurried to the upper plain, where, as he had expected, he found a number of Indian horses 
grazing. Day was then fairly breaking. He untied the cord from the other arm, which by 
this time wa^very much swelled. Selecting, as he thought, the best horse he could see, he 
made a bridle of the cord, mounted him, and rode off at full speed. About 10 o’clock, the 
horse gave out. Slover then had to travel on foot with all possible speed; and between 
musquitoes, nettles, brush, briars, thorns, &c., by the time he got home, he had more the 
appearance of a mass of raw flesh than an animate being. 

The history of the expedition of Lord Dunmore against these 
towns on the Scioto, in 1774, we derive from the discourse upon this 
subject delivered by Chas. Whittlesey, Esq., before the historical and 
philosophical society of Ohio, at Columbus, in 1840. 

In August, 1774, Lord Dunmore collected a force of 3,000 men, destined for the reduc¬ 
tion of their towns on the Scioto, situated within the present limits of Pickaway county. 
One half of the corps was raised in Botetourt, Fincastle, and the adjoining counties, by Col. 
Andrew Lewis, and of these, 1,100 were in rendezvous at the levels of Green Briar on the 
5th of September. It advanced in two divisions ; the left wing, commanded by Lewis, 
struck the great Kenhawa, and followed that stream to the Ohio. The right wing, attend¬ 
ed by Dunmore in person, passed the mountains at the Potomac gap, and came to the Ohio 
somewhere above Wheeling. About the 6th of October, a talk was had with the chiefs of 
the Six Nations and the Delawares, some of whom had been to the Shawanese towns on a 
mission of peace. They reported unfavorably. The plan of the campaign was to form a 
junction before reaching the Indian villages, and Lewis accordingly halted at the mouth of 
the Kenhawa on the 6th of October for communication and orders from the commander-in¬ 
chief. While there he encamped on the ground now occupied by the village of Point 
Pleasant, without entrenchments or other defences. On the morning of the 10 th of October, 
he was attacked by 1,000 chosen warriors of the western confederacy, who had abandoned 
their towns on the Pickaway plains to meet the Virginia troops, and give them battle before 
the two corps could be united. The Virginia riflemen occupied a triangular point of land, 
between the right bank of the Kenhawa and the left bank of the Ohio, accessible only from 
the rear. The assault was therefore in this quarter. Within an hour after the scouts had 
reported the presence of the Indians, a general engagement took place, extending from one 
bank of one river to the other, half a mile from the point. 

Colonel Andrew Lewis, who seems to have been possessed of military talent, acted with 
steadiness and decision in this emergency. He arrayed his forces promptly, and advanced 
to meet the enemy, with force equal to his own. Col. Charles Lewis, with 300 men, form¬ 
ing the right of the line, met the Indians at sunrise and sustained the first attack. Here he 
was mortally wounded in the onset, and his troops receiving almost the entire weight of the 
charge, were broken and gave way. Col. Fleming with a portion of the command, had 
advanced along the shore of the Ohio, and in a few moments fell in with the right of the 
Indian line, which rested on the river. 

The effect of the first shock was to stagger the left wing, as it had done the right, and 
its commander, also, was severely wounded at an early stage of the conflict; but his men 
succeeded in reaching a piece of timber land, and maintained their position until the reserve 
under Col. Field reached the ground. It will be seen by examining Lewis’s plan of the 
engagement, and the ground on which it was fought, that an advance on his part, and a 
retreat of his opponent, necessarily weakened their line by constantly increasing its length, 
if it extended from river to river, and would eventually force him to break it or leave his 
flanks unprotected. Those acquainted with Indian tactics inform us, that it is the great 
point of his generalship to preserve his flanks and overreach those of his enemy. They 
continued, therefore, contrary to their usual practice, to dispute the ground with the perti¬ 
nacity of veterans along the whole line—retreating slowly from tree to tree, tjll one o’clock, 
p. m., when they reached a strong position. Here both parties rested, within rifle range of 
each other, and continued a desultory fire along a front of a mile and a quarter, until after 
sunset. 

The desperate nature of this fight maybe inferred from the deep-seated animosity of both 
parties towards each other, the high courage which both possessed, and the consequences 
which hung upon the issue. The Virginians lost one half their commissioned officers and 
52 men killed. Of the Indians, 21 were left on the field, and the loss in killed and wounded 
is stated at 233. During the night, the Indians retreated and were not pursued. 

Having failed in tiffs contest with the troops while they were still divided in two parties. 


406 


PICKAWAY COUNTY, 


they changed their plan and determined at once to save their towns from destruction by 
offers of peace. 

Soon after the battle was over, a reinforcement of 300 Fincastle troops, and also an ex¬ 
press from Lord Dunmore, arrived, with an order directing this division to advance towards 
the Shawanese villages without delay. Notwithstanding the order was given in ignorance 
of the engagement, and commanded them to enter the enemy’s country unsupported, Col. 
Lewis and his men were glad to comply with it, and thus complete the overthrow of the 
allied Indians. 

The Virginians, made eager with success, and maddened by the loss of so many brave 
officers, dashed across the Ohio in pursuit of more victims, leaving a garrison at Point 
Pleasant. Our next information of them is, that a march of eighty miles, through an un¬ 
trodden wilderness, has been performed, and on the 24th of Oct., they are encamped on the 
banks of Congo creek, in Pickaway township, Pickaway county, within striking distance 
of the Indian towns. Their principal village was occupied by Shawnees, and stood upon 
the ground where the village of Westfall is now situated, on the west bank of the Scioto, 
and on the Ohio canal, near the south line of the same county. This was the head-quar¬ 
ters of the confederate tribes, and was called Chillicothe ; and because there were other 
towns, either at that time or soon after, of the same name, it was known as Old Chillicothe. 
One of them was located at the present village of Frankfort, in Ross county, on the north 
fork of Paint creek, and others on the waters of the Great Miami. In the mean time, Lord 
Dunmore and his men had descended the Ohio to the mouth of the Great Hockhocking, 
established a depot, and erected some defences called Fort Gower. From this point he 
probably started the express directed to Lewis, at the mouth of Kenhawa, about fifty miles 
below, and immediately commenced his march up the Hockhocking into the Indian coun¬ 
try. For the next that is known of him, he is in the vicinity of Camp Charlotte, on the left 
bank of Sippo creek, about seven miles southeast of Circleville, where he arrived before 
Lewis reached the station on Congo, as above stated. Camp Charlotte was situated about 
four and one-half miles northeast of Camp Lewis, on the farm now [1840] owned by Thos. 
J. Winship, Esq., and was consequently farther from the Chillicothe villages than the posi¬ 
tion occupied by the left wing. There has been much diversity of opinion and statement 
respecting the location of the true Old Chillicothe town, and also in regard to the positions 
of Camp Charlotte and Camp Lewis. The associations connected with those places have 
given them an interest which will never decline. This is probably a sufficient excuse for 
presenting here, in detail, the evidence upon which the positions of these several points are 
established. 

It was at the Chillicothe towns that Logan delivered his famous speech. It was not 
made in council, for he refused to attend at Camp Charlotte where the talk was held, and 
Dunmore sent a trader by the name of John Gibson to inquire the cause of his absence. 
The Indians, as before intimated, had made propositions to the governor for peace, and 
probably before he was aware of the result of the action at Kenhawa. When Gibson 
arrived at the village, Logan came to him, and by his (Logan’s) request, they went into an 
adjoining wood and sat down. Here, after shedding abundance of tears, the honored chief 
told his pathetic story.* Gibson repeated it to the officers, who caused it to be published in 
the Virginia Gazette of that year. Mr. Jefferson was charged with making improvements 
and alterations when he published it in his notes on Virginia ; but from the concurrent tes¬ 
timony of Gibson, Lord Dunmore, and several others, it appears to be as close a representa¬ 
tion of the original as could be obtained under the circumstances. The only versions of the 
speech that I have seen are here contrasted, in order to show that the substance and senti¬ 
ments correspond, and that it must be the production of Logan, or of John Gibson, the only 
white man who heard the original. 


Williamsburg, Va., Feb. 4,1775. 

The following is said to be a message 
from Captain Logan, an Indian warrior, to 
Gov. Dunmore, after the battle in which 
Colonel Charles Lewis was slain, delivered 
at the treaty : 

“ I appeal to any white man to say that 
he ever entered Logan’s cabin but I gave 
him meat; that he ever came naked but I 
clothed him. 


New York, Feb. 16,1775. 
Extract of a letter from Va.— 

“ I make no doubt the following speci¬ 
men of Indian eloquence and mistaken valor 
will please you, but you must make allowan¬ 
ces for the unskillfulness of the interpreter.” 

“ I appeal to any white man to say, if 
ever he entered Logan’s cabin hungry and I 
gave him not meat; if ever he came cold or 
naked and I gave him not clothing. 

“ During the course of the last long and 


* Affidavit of John Gibson, Jefferson’s Notes, appendix, p. 16. 




PICKAWAY COUNTY, 


407 


“ In the course of the last war, Logan re¬ 
mained in his cabin an advocate for peace. 
I had such an affection for the white people, 
that I was pointed at by the rest of my na¬ 
tion. I should have ever lived with them 
had it not been for Col. Cresap, who, last 
year, cut off, in cold blood, all the relations 
of Logan, not sparing my women and chil¬ 
dren. There runs not a drop of my blood 
in the veins of any human creature. This 
called upon me for revenge. I have sought 
it. I have killed many, and fully glutted 
my revenge. I am glad there is a prospect 
of peace on account of the nation ; but I beg 
you will not entertain a thought that any 
thing I have said proceeds from fear. Lo¬ 
gan disdains the thought. He will not turn 
on his heel to save his life. Who is there 
to mourn for Logan ? No one.” 


bloody war, Logan remained in his tent an 
advocate for peace. Nay, such was my 
love for the whites, that those of my own 
country pointed at me as they passed by and 
said, ‘ Logan is the friend of white men.’ 
I had even thought to live with you, but for 
the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, 
the last spring, in cool blood, and unpro¬ 
voked, cut off all the relatives of Logan ; 
not sparing even my women and children. 
There runs not a drop of my blood in the 
veins of any human creature. This called 
on me for revenge. I have sought it. I 
have killed many. I have fully glutted my 
vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at 
the beams of peace. Yet, do not harbor 
the thought that mine is the joy of fear. 
Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on 
his heel to save his life. Who is there to 
mourn for Logan ? Not one.” 


The right hand translation is literally the same as the copy given in Jefferson’s Notes, 
page 124, and is doubtless the version given out by himself at the time. 

It was repeated throughout the North American colonies as a lesson of eloquence in the 
schools, and copied upon the pages of literary journals in Great Britain and the Continent. 
This brief effusion of mingled pride, courage and sorrow, elevated the character of the na¬ 
tive American throughout the intelligent world; and the place where it was delivered can 
never be forgotten so long as touching eloquence is admired by men. 

Camp Charlotte was situated on the southwest quarter of section 12, town 10, range 21, 
upon a pleasant piece of ground in view of the Pickaway plains. It was without permanent 
defences, or, at least, there are no remains of intrenchments, and is accessible on all sides. 
The creek in front formed no impediment to an approach from that quarter, and the country 
is level in the rear. Camp Lewis is said to be upon more defensible ground on the north¬ 
east quarter of section 30, same township and range. The two encampments have often 
been confounded with each other. 

Before Lord Dunmore reached the vicinity of the Indian towns, he was met by a flag of 
truce, borne by a white man named Elliott, desiring a halt on the part of the troops, and 
requesting for the chiefs an interpreter with whom they could communicate. To this his 
lordship, who, according to the Virginians, had an aversion to fighting, readily assented. 
They furthermore charged him with the design of forming an alliance with the confederacy, 
to assist Great Britain against the colonies in the crisis of the revolution, which every one 
foresaw. He, however, moved forward to Camp Charlotte, which was established rather 
as a convenient council ground, than as a place of security or defence. The Virginia 
militia came here for the purpose of fighting, and their dissatisfaction and disappointment 
at the result amounted almost to mutiny. Lewis refused to obey the order for a halt, con¬ 
sidering the enemy as already within his grasp, and of inferior numbers to his own. Dun- 
more, as we have seen, went in person to enforce his orders, and it is said drew his 
sword upon Colonel Lewis, threatening him with instant death if he persisted in farther 
disobedience. 

The troops were concentrated at Camp Charlotte, numbering about 2,500 men. The prin¬ 
cipal chiefs of the Scioto tribes had been assembled, and some days were spent in negotia¬ 
tions. A compact or treaty was at length concluded, and four hostages put in possession 
of the governor to be taken to Virginia. We know very little of the precise terms of this 
treaty, nor even of the tribes who gave it their assent. It is said the Indians agreed 
to make the Ohio their boundary, and the whites stipulated not to pass beyond that river. 
An agreement was entered into for a talk at Pittsburgh in the following spring, where a 
more full treaty was to be made ; but the revolutionary movements prevented. 


When the army returned, they took the route by Fort Gower, 
(see p. 49,) where, on the 5th of November, and 10 days after the 
arrival of Lewis at Camp Charlotte, the officers held a meeting “ for 
the purpose of considering the grievances of British America: an 
officer present addressed the meeting in the following words 




408 


PICKAWAY COUNTY. 


Gentlemen,—Having now concluded the campaign, by the assistance of Providence, with 
honor and advantage to the colony and ourselves, it only remains that we should give our 
country the stronger assurance that we are ready at all times, to the utmost of our power, to 
maintain and defend her just rights and privileges. We have lived about three months in 
the woods, without any intelligence from Boston, or from the delegates at Philadelphia. It 
is possible, from the groundless reports of designing men, that our countrymen may be 
jealous of the use such a body would make of arms in their hands at this critical juncture. 
That we are a respectable body is certain, when it is considered that we can live weeks 
without bread or salt; that we can sleep in the open air without any covering but that of 
the canopy of heaven; and that we can march and shoot with any in the known world. 
Blessed with these talents, let us solemnly engage to one another, and our country in par¬ 
ticular, that we will use them for no purpose but for the honor and advantage of America, 
and of Virginia in particular. It behooves us, then, for the satisfaction of our country, that 
we should give them our real sentiments by way of resolves, at this very alarming crisis. 

Whereupon the meeting made choice of a committee to draw up and prepare resolves 
for their consideration ; who immediately withdrew, and after some time spent therein, re¬ 
ported that they had agreed to and prepared the following resolves, which were read, 
maturely considered, and agreed to nem. con. by the meeting, and ordered to be published 
in the Virginia Gazette : 

Resolved, That we will bear the most faithful allegiance to his majesty King George the 
Third, while his majesty delights to reign over a brave and a free people ; that we will, at 
the expense of life and every thing dear and valuable, exert ourselves in the support of the 
honor of his crown and the dignity of the British empire. But as the love of liberty and 
attachment to the real interests and just rights of America outweigh every other considera¬ 
tion, we resolve, that we will exert every power within us for the defence of American 
liberty, and for the support of her just rights and privileges, not in any precipitous, riotous, 
or tumultuous manner, but when regularly called forth by the unanimous voice of our 
countrymen. 

Resolved, That we entertain the greatest respect for his excellency the Rt. Hon. Lord 
Dunmore, who commanded the expedition against the Shawanese, and who, we are confi¬ 
dent, underwent the great fatigue of this singular campaign from no other motive than the 
true interests of the country. 

Signed by order and in behalf of the whole corps. 

Benjamin Ashby, Clerk. 

Notwithstanding the evidence above produced, derived from the 
American Archives, it is said that the troops, who had wished to give 
an efficient blow, reached Virginia highly dissatisfied with the gov¬ 
ernor and the treaty : the conduct of the governor could not be well 
explained by them, “ except by supposing him to act with reference 
to the expected contest with England and her colonies—a motive 
which the colonists regarded as little less than treasonable.”* 

Of the feeling in camp towards Dunmore at the time of the treaty, 
we have some evidence in the statement of the late venerable Abrm. 
Thomas, one of the early settlers of Miami county, published in the 
Troy Times, in 1839. 

We (Dunmore’s army) lay at the mouth of the Hocking for some time. One day, as 
I was going down to the boats, I met Dunmore just leaving them. He expressed his 
fears that Gen. Lewis was attacked by the Indians. The men had noticed Dunmore for 
several days with his ear close to the water, but did not then suspect the reason. He told me 
he thought he heard the roaring of guns upon the water, and requested me to put my ear to 
it, and although it was ten or twelve [28] miles distant, I distinctly heard the roar of mus¬ 
ketry. The next day we took up the line of march for Chillicothe, up the Hockhocking. 
On the second or third day, some Indians came running into the camp, beseeching Dun¬ 
more to stop Lewis’s division, which had crossed the Ohio and was in full pursuit of the 
Indians; to use their own words, " like so many devils, that would kill them all.” This was 
the first certain information our men had of that battle. On the solicitation of the savages, 
Dunmore twice sent orders to check the progress of Lewis, but he refused to obey them. 


* Annals of the West. 



PICKAWAY COUNTY. 


409 


until Dunmore himself took command of the division and led them back to the Ohio. The 
troops were indignant at the conduct of Dunmore, and believed his object was to give up 
both divisions of the army to the Indians. It was thought he knew the attack would be 
made at Point Pleasant about the time it took place, calculated on the defeat of Lewis, and 
led our army into the defiles of the Hocking, that they might the more easily become the 
prey of infuriated savages, flushed with recent victory. An incident occurred here, show¬ 
ing the state of feeling among the men. At the time the Indians who came into the camp 
were sitting with Dunmore in his tent, a backwoodsman passing, observed them and stepped 
around the tent. When he thought he had them in range, he discharged his rifle through 
the canvass, with the intention of killing the three at once. It was a close cut—it missed: 
the man escaped through the crowd and no one knew who did it. From this time until he 
left the camp, Dunmore tried to conciliate what he could by indulgence and talking; but 
this would not have availed him had he not taken other precautions, for many in the camp 
believed him the enemy of their country and the betrayer of the army. 

The chief, Cornstalk, whose town is shown on the map, was a man 
of true nobility of soul, and a brave warrior. 

At the battle of Point Pleasant he commanded the Indians with consummate skill, and 
if at any time his warriors were believed to waver, his voice could be heard above the din 
of battle, exclaiming in his native tongue, “Be strong!—be strong!” When he returned 
to the Pickaway towns, after the battle, he called a council of the nation to consult what 
should be done, and upbraided them in not suffering him to make peace, as he desired, on 
the evening before the battle. “ What,” said he, “ will you do now? The Big Knife is 
coming on us, and we shall all be killed. Now you must fight or we are undone.” But no 
one answering, he said, “ then let us kill all our women and children, and go and fight until 
we die.” But no anwer was made, when, rising, he struck his tomahawk in a post of the 
council house and exclaimed, “ I’ll go and make peace,” to which all the warriors grunted 
“ ough ! ough !” and runners were instantly dispatched to Dunmore to solicit peace. 

In the summer of 1777, he was atrociously murdered at Point Pleasant. As his mur¬ 
derers were approaching, his son Elinipsico trembled violently. “ His father encouraged 
him not to be afraid, for that the Great Man above had sent him there to be killed and die 
with him. As the men advanced to the door, the Cornstalk rose up and met them: they 
fired, and seven or eight bullets went through him. So fell the great Cornstalk warrior— 
whose name was bestowed upon him by the consent of the nation, as their great strength 
and support.” Had he lived, it is believed that he would have been friendly with the 
Americans, as he had come over to visit the garrison at Point Pleasant to communicate 
the design of the Indians of uniting with the British. His grave is to be seen at Point 
Pleasant to the present day. 

The last years of Logan were truly melancholy. He wandered 
about from tribe to tribe, a solitary and lonely man; dejected and 
broken-hearted by the loss of his friends and the decay of his tribe, 
he resorted to the stimulus of strong drink to drown his sorrow. 
He was at last murdered, in Michigan, near Detroit. He was, at the 
time, sitting with his blanket over his head before a camp fire, his 
elbows resting on his knees, and his head upon his hands, buried in 
profound reflection, when an Indian, who had taken some offence, 
stole behind him and buried his tomahawk in his brains. Thus 
perished the immortal Logan, the last of his race.* 

Circleville, the county seat, is on the Ohio canal and Scioto 
river, 26 miles s. of Columbus, and 19 n. of Chillicothe. It was laid 
out in 1810 as the seat of justice, by Daniel Dresbach, on land origi¬ 
nally belonging to Zeiger and Watt, and the first lot sold on the 10th 
of September. The town is on the site of ancient fortifications, one of 
which having been circular, originated the name of the place. The 


* From Henry C. Brish, Esq., of Tiffin, Seneca county, who derived the circumstances 
from Good Hunter, an aged Mingo chief, and a familiar acquaintance of Logan. 

52 



410 


PICKAWAY COUNTY. 


old court-house, built in the form of an octagon, and destroyed in 
1841 , stood in the centre of the circle. Few, if any, vestiges remain 
of these forts, but we find them described at length in the Archselo- 
gia Americana, published in 1820 . The description and accompany¬ 
ing cut are appended. 



There are two forts, one being an exact circle, the other an exact square. The former 
is surrounded by two walls, with a deep ditch between them ; the latter is encompassed 
by one wall, without any ditch. The former was 69 feet in diameter, measuring from out¬ 
side to outside of the circular outer wall; the latter is exactly 55 rods square, measuring 
the same way. The walls of the circular fort were at least 20 feet in height, measuring 
from the bottom of the ditch, before the town of Circleville was built. The inner wall was 
of clay, taken up probably in the northern part of the fort, where was a low place, and is 
still considerably lower than any other part of the work. The outside wall was taken from 
the ditch which is between these walls, and is alluvial, consisting of pebbles, worn smooth 
in water, and sand, to a very considerable depth, more than 50 feet at least. The outside 
of the walls is about five or six feet in height now; on the inside, the ditch is at present 
generally not more than 15 feet. They are disappearing before us daily, and will soon be 
gone. The walls of the square fort are at this time, where left standing, about 10 feet in 
height. There were eight gateways, or openings, leading into the square fort, and only 
one into the circular fort. Before each of these openings was a mound of earth, perhaps 
four feet high, 40 feet perhaps in diameter at the base, and 20 or upwards at the summit. 
These mounds, for two rods or more, are exactly in front of the gateways, and were in¬ 
tended for the defence of these openings. 

As this work is a perfect square, so the gateways and their watch-towers were equi¬ 
distant from each other. These mounds were in a perfectly straight line, and exactly parallel 
with the wall. Those small mounds were at in, in, m, m, m, m, in. The black line at d 
represents the ditch, and w, w, represent the two circular walls. 

D [the reader is referred to the plate] shows the site of a once very remarkable ancient 
mound of earth, with a semi-circular pavement on its eastern side, nearly fronting, as the 
plate represents, the only gateway leading into this fort. This mound is entirely removed ; 
but the outline of the semi-circular pavement may still be seen in many places, notwith¬ 
standing the dilapidations of time and those occasioned by the hand of man. 

The earth in these walls was as nearly perpendicular as it could be made to lie. This 
fort had originally but one gateway leading into it on its eastern side, and that was defended 
by a mound of earth several feet in height, at m, i. Near the centre of this work was a 















PICKAWAY COUNTY. 


411 


mound, with a semi-circular pavement on its eastern side, some of the remains of which 
may still be seen by an intelligent observer. The mound at m, i, has been entirely removed, 
so as to make the street level, from where it once stood. 

B is a square fort, adjoining the circular one, as represented by the plate, the area of 
which has been stated already. The wall which surrounds this work is generally now 
about 10 feet in height, where it has not been manufactured into brick. There are seven 
gateways leading into this fort, besides the one which communicates with the square forti¬ 
fication—that is, one at each angle, and another in the wall, just half way between the 
angular ones. Before each of these gateways was a mound of earth of four or five feet in 
height, intended for the defence of these openings. 

The extreme care of the authors of these works to protect and defend every part of the 
circle, is no where visible about this square fort. The former is defended by two high 
walls—the latter by one. The former has a deep ditch encircling it—this has none. The 
former could be entered at one place only—this at eight, and those about 20 feet broad. 
The present town of Circleville covers all the round and the western half of the square fort. 
These fortifications, where the town stands, will entirely disappear in a few years ; and I 
have used the only means within my power to perpetuate their memory, by the annexed 
drawing and this brief description. 



West Main Street, Circleville. 


Another writer gives some aditional facts. Writing m 1834, he 
says: 

On the sw. side of the circle stands a conical hill, crowned with an artificial mound. In¬ 
deed so much does the whole elevation resemble the work of man, that many have mis¬ 
taken it for a large mound. A street has lately been opened across the little mound which 
crowned the hill, and in removing the earth, many skeletons were found in good preserva¬ 
tion. A cranium of one of them was in my possession, and is a noble specimen of the race 
which once occupied these ancient walls. It has a high forehead and large and bold 
features, with all the phrenological marks of daring and bravery. Poor fellow, he died 
overwhelmed by numbers; as the fracture of the right parietal bone by the battle axe, and 
five large stone arrows sticking in and about his bones, still bear silent, but sure testimony. 
The elevated ground a little north of the town, across Hargus creek, which washes the base 
of the plain of Circleville, appears to have been the common burying-ground. Human 
bones in great quantities are found in digging away the gravel for repairing the streets, and 
for constructing the banks of the canal which runs near the base of the highlands. They 
were buried in the common earth, without any attempt at tumuli; and occupy so large a 
space, that only a dense population and a long period of time could have furnished such 
numbers. 

Circleville is a thriving, business town, surrounded by a beautiful, 
level country. Opposite the town, the bottom land on the Scioto is 
banked up for several miles, to prevent being overflowed by the 












412 


PIKE COUNTY. 


river. Circleville has 2 Presbyterian, 1 Lutheran, 1 Episcopal, 1 
Methodist and 1 United Brethren church; an elegant court house, 
recently erected ; 1 or 2 academies, 3 printing offices, about 20 mer¬ 
cantile stores, 1 bank, 9 warehouses on the canal, and had in 1830, 
1136, and in 1840, 2330 inhabitants: it now has over 3000. The 
business by the canal is heavy. Of the clearances made from this 
port in 1846, there were of corn, 106,465 bushels; wheat, 24,918 
bushels ; broom corn, 426,374 pounds ; bacon and pork, 1277,212 
pounds, and lard, 1458,259 pounds. 

Tarleton, 9 miles easterly from Circleville, is a thriving town, con¬ 
taining 6 or 8 stores, 3 churches, and had in 1840, 437 inhabitants. 
The following is a list of smaller places, with their distances and 
direction from Circleville, and population in 1840. Bloomfield, 9 n., 
182; Darbyville, 12 nw., 164; New Holland, 18 w., 161 ; Williams¬ 
port, 9 w., 159; Jefferson 85; Palestine 63, and Millport 98. The 
last is a new place, on the canal, and has several mills, and much 
water power derived from the canal. At Williamsport is a chaly¬ 
beate spring of some local celebrity. 


PIKE. 

Pike was organized in February, 1815, and named from General 
Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who was born at Lamberton, Mercer 
county, N. J., January 5th, 1779, and was killed at the storming of 
York, Upper Canada, April 25th, 1813. Excepting the rich bottom 
lands of the Scioto and its tributaries, the surface is generally hilly. 
The river hills abound with excellent free-stone, extensively ex¬ 
ported for building purposes. The principal productions are Indian 
corn, oats and wheat. The following is a list of the townships in 
1840, with their population. 

Beaver, 1075 Newton, 337 Perry, 565 

Camp Creek, 299 Pee Pee, 813 Seal, 1875 

Jackson, 1096 Pebble, 504 Sunfish, 325 

Mifflin, 645 

The population of Pike in 1820, was 4253 ; in 1830, 6024, and in 
1840, 7536, or 18 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The first permanent settlers in the county were Pennsylvanians 
°nd Virginians. Within the last few years many Germans have 
settled in the eastern part. The first settlement in the vicinity of 
Piketon, was made on the Pee Pee prairie, by John Noland from 
Pennsylvania, Abraham, Arthur and JohnChenoweth, three brothers 
from Virginia, who settled there about the same time Chillicothe 
was laid out, in 1796. 

Piketon, the county seat, was laid out about the year 1814. It is 
on the Scioto, on the Columbus and Portsmouth turnpike, 64 miles 
from the first, 26 from the last, and 2 east of the Ohio canal. Pike¬ 
ton contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist and 1 German Lutheran 



PIKE COUNTY. 


413 


church, an academy, a newspaper printing office, 4 mercantile stores, 
and had in 1840, 507 inhabitants. Piketon was originally called 



View in Piketon. 

Jefferson, and was laid off on what was called “ Miller’s Bank.” 
The origin of this last name is thus given in the American Pioneer. 

About the year 1795, two parties set off from Mason county, Ky., to locate land by 
making improvements, as it was believed the tract ceded to the United States, east of the 
Scioto, would be held by pre-emption. One of these parties was conducted by a Mr. 
Miller, and the other by a Mr. Kenton. In Kenton’s company was a man by the name of 
Owens, between whom and Miller there arose a quarrel about the right of settling this 
beautiful spot. In the fray Owens shot Miller, whose bones may be found interred near 
the lower end of the high bank. His death and burial there, gave name to the high bank, 
which was then in Washington county, the Scioto being then the line between Washington 
and Adams counties. Owens was taken to Marietta, where he was tried and acquitted. 

A short distance below the town are some ancient works. There 
the turnpike passes for several hundred feet between two parallel 
and artificial walls of earth, about 15 feet in elevation, and near six 
rods apart. On Lewis Evans’ map of the middle British colonies, 
published in 1755, is laid down, on the right bank of the river, a short 
distance below the site of Piketon, a place called “ Hurricane 
Tomsit might have been the abode of an Indian chief or a French 
trader’s station. 

Waverly, 4 miles above Piketon on the Scioto river and Ohio 
canal, was laid out about the year 1829, by M. Downing. It con¬ 
tains 1 Presbyterian and 1 Methodist church, 4 stores, and had in 
1840, 306 inhabitants. Cynt.hiana had in 1840, 71, Jasper 69, and 
Sharonville 61 inhabitants. 


































































































































































414 


PORTAGE COUNTY. 


PORTAGE. 


Portage was formed from Trumbull, June 7th, 1807; all that part 
of the Reserve west of the Cuyahoga and south of the townships 
numbered five, was also annexed as part of the county, and the tem¬ 
porary seat of justice appointed at the house of Benj. Tappan. The 
name was derived from the old Indian portage path of about 7 miles 
in length, between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas, which was within 
its limits. The surface is slightly rolling; the upland is generally 
sandy or gravelly, and the flat land to a considerable extent clay. 
The county is wealthy and thriving. The dairy business is largely 
carried on, and nearly 1000 tons of cheese annually produced. The 
principal productions are wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, 
butter, cheese and wool; of the last, the annual exports amount to 
about 240,000 pounds. The following is a list of the townships in 
1840, with their population. 


Atwater, 756 

Aurora, 906 

Brimfield, 1154 
Charlestown, 851 
Deerfield, 1184 
Edinburgh, 1085 
Franklin, 1497 


Freedom, 888 Ravenna, 1542 

Hiram, 1080 Rootstown, 1112 

Mantua, 1187 Shalersville, 1281 

Nelson, 1398 Streetsborough, 1136 

Palmyra, 1359 Suffield, 1200 

Paris, 931 Windham, 907 


Randolph, 1649 

The population of Portage in 1820, was 10,093; in 1830, 18,792, 
and in 1840, 23,107, or 46 inhabitants to a square mile. 

Ravenna, the county seat, so named from an Italian city, is 34 
miles se. of Cleveland and 140 nw. of Columbus. It is situated on 


the Cleveland and Pittsburgh road, on the crest of land dividing 
the waters flowing into the lakes from those emptying into the Gulf 
of Mexico: the Ohio and Pennsylvania canal runs a short distance 
south of the town. 

This place was originally settled by the Hon. Benj. Tappan in 
June, 1799, at which time there was but one white person, a Mr. 
Honey, residing in the county. A solitary log-cabin in each place, 
marked the sites of the flourishing cities of Buffalo and Cleveland. 
On his journey out from New England, Mr. Tappan fell in with the 
late David Hudson, the founder of Hudson, Summit county, at Ger- 
ondaquet, New York, and “assisted him on the journey for the sake 
of his company. After some days of tedious navigation up the 
Cuyahoga river, he landed at a prairie, where is now the town of 
Boston, in the county of Summit. There he left all his goods under 
a tent with one and his family to take care of them, and 

with another hired man proceeded to make out a road to Ravenna. 
There they built a dray, and with a yoke of oxen which had been 
driven from Connecticut river, and were found on his arrival, he 
conveyed a load of farming utensils to his settlement. Returning 
for a second load, the tent was found abandoned and partly plun- 


PORTAGE COUNTY. 


415 


dered by the Indians. He soon after learned that Hudson had per¬ 
suaded K* # *** to join his own settlement.”* 

On Mr. Tappan’s “ removing his second load of goods, one of his oxen was overheated 
and died, leaving him in a vast forest, distant from any habitation, without a team, and what 
was still worse, with but a single dollar in money. He was not depressed for an instant by 
these untoward circumstances. Pie sent one of his men through the woods, with a compass, 
to Erie, in Pa., a distance of about 100 miles, requesting from Capt. Lyman, the commandant 
at the fort, a loan of money. At the same time, he followed himself the township lines to 
Youngstown, where he became acquainted with Col. James Hillman, (see p. 338,) who did 
not hesitate to sell him an ox, on credit, at a fair price,—an act of generosity which proved 
of great value, as the want of a team must have broken up his settlement. The unex¬ 
pected delays upon the journey and other hindrances, prevented them from raising a crop 
at this season, and they had, after the provisions brought with him were exhausted, to de¬ 
pend for meat upon their skill in hunting and purchases from the Indians, and for meal 
upon the scanty supplies procured from western Pennsylvania. Hpving set out with the 
determination to spend the winter, he erected a log cabin, into which himself and one 
Bixby, whom he had agreed to give 100 acres of land on condition of settlement, moved 
on the first day of January, 1800, before which, they had lived under a bark camp and 
their tent.”* 



View in Ravenna. 

The engraving represents the public buildings in the central part 
of the village : in the centre is seen the court house and jail; on the 
right in the distance the Congregational, and on the left the Univer- 
salist church. Ravenna contains 1 Congregational, 1 Disciples, 1 
Methodist and 1 Universalist church, 10 mercantile stores, an acad¬ 
emy, 2 newspaper printing offices, and about 1200 inhabitants. It 
is a thriving, pleasant village and is noted for the manufacture of 
carriages. 

About the time of Mr. Tappan’s settlement at Ravenna, others were 
commenced in several of the townships of the county. The sketches 
of Deerfield and Palmyra we annex from the Barr mss. 

Deerfield received its name from Deerfield, Mass., the native place of the mother of 
Lewis Day, Esq. Early in May, 1799, Lewis Day and his son, Horatio, of Granby, Ct., 
and Moses Tibbals and Green Frost, of Granville, Mass., left their homes in a one horse 
wagon, and arrived in Deerfield on the 29th of the same month. This was the first wagon 


* From the sketch of Hon. Benj. Tappan, in the Democratic Review, for June, 1840. 





























416 


PORTAGE COUNTY. 


that had ever penetrated farther westward in this region than Canfield. The country west 
of that place had been an unbroken wilderness, until within a few days. Capt. Caleb At¬ 
water, of Wallingford, Ct., had hired some men to open a road to township No. 1, in the 
7th range, of which he was the owner. This road passed through Deerfield, and was com¬ 
pleted to that place when the party arrived at the point of their destination. These emi¬ 
grants selected sites for their future dwellings, and commenced clearing up the land. In 
July, Lewis Ely and family arrived from Granville and wintered here, while the first 
named, having spent the summer in making improvements, returned east. On the 4th 
of March, 1800, Alva Day, (son of Lewis,) John Campbell and Joel Thrall, all arrived 
in company. In April, George and Robert Taylor and James Laughlin, from Pennsylva¬ 
nia, with their families, made permanent settlements. Mr. Laughlin built a grist mill, 
which, on the succeeding year, was a great convenience to the settlers. On the 29th of 
June, Lewis Day returned from Connecticut, accompanied by his family, and his brother- 
in-law, Major Rogers, who the next year also brought out his family. 

Much suffering was experienced on account of the scarcity of provisions. They were 
supplied from settlements on the opposite side of the Ohio, the nearest of which was George¬ 
town, 40 miles distant. These were conveyed on pack-horses through the wilderness. 
On the 22d of August, Mrs. Alva Day gave birth to the first child—a female—born in the 
township, and on the 7th of November, the first wedding took place. John Campbell and 
Sarah Ely—daughter of Lewis—were joined in wedlock by Calvin Austin, Esq., of War¬ 
ren. He was accompanied from Warren, a distance of 27 miles, by the late Judge Pease, 
then a young lawyer of that place. They came on foot—there not being any road—and 
as they threaded their way through the woods, young Pease taught the justice the mar¬ 
riage ceremony, by oft repetition. 

The first civil organization was effected in 1802, under the name of Franklin township, 
embracing all of the present Portage and parts of Trumbull and Summit counties. About 
this time, the settlement received accessions from New England, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Rev. Mr. Badger, the missionary of the Presbyterians, 
preached here as early as February 16,1801. In 1803, Dr. Shadrac Bostwick organized 
an Episcopal Methodist society. The Presbyterian society was organized, Oct. 8th, 1818, 
and that of the Disciples in 1828. 

In 1806, there was an encampment of seven Mohawk Indians in 
Deerfield, with whom a serious difficulty occurred. John Diver, it 
is thought, in a horse trade over-reached one of these Indians, named 
John Nicksaw. There was much dissatisfaction expressed by these 
Indians at the bargain, and Nicksaw vainly endeavored to effect a 
re-exchange of horses. 

On stating his grievances to Squire Lewis Day, that gentleman advised him to see Diver 
again and persuade him to do justice. Nicksaw replied, “ No ! you speak him ! me no 
speak him again!” and immediately left. On this very evening—Jan. 20th, 1806—there 
was a sleighing party at the house of John Diver. Early in the evening while amusing 
themselves, they were interrupted by the rude entrance of five Indians, John Nicksaw, 
John Mohawk, Bigson and his two sons, from the encampment. 

They were excited with whiskey, and endeavered to decoy John Diver to their camp, on 
some frivolous pretence. Failing in this stratagem, they became more and more boisterous, 
but were quieted by the mildness of Daniel Diver. They changed their tone, reciprocated 
his courteousness, and vainly urged him to drink whiskey with them. They now again 
resumed their impudent manner, and charging Daniel with stealing their guns, declared 
they would not leave until he returned them. With much loss of time and altercation, he 
at last got them out of the house. Shortly after, John Diver opened the door and was on 
the point of stepping out, when he espied Mohawk standing in front of him, with uplifted 
tomahawk, in the attitude of striking. Diver shrunk back unobserved by the company, 
and not wishing to alarm them, said nothing at the time about the circumstance. 

About 10 o’clock, the moon shining with unusual brightness, the night being cold and 
clear, with snow about two feet deep, Daniel observed the Indians, standing in a ravine 
several rods from the house. He ran up and accosted them in a friendly manner. They 
treacherously returned his salutation, said they had found their guns, and before returning 
to camp, wished to apologize for their conduct and part good friends. Passing along the 
line he took each and all by the hand, until he came to Mohawk, who was the only one 
that had a gun in his hands. He refused to shake hands, and at the moment Diver turned 
for the house, he received a ball through his temples destroying both of his eyes. He im- 


PORTAGE COUNTY. 


417 


mediately fell. On the report of the gun, John Diver ran to the spot, by which time Daniel 
had regained his feet and was staggering about. Mohawk was standing a few paces off, 
looking on in silence, but his companions had fled. John eagerly inquired of his brother 
what was the matter'? “ I am shot by Mohawk,” was the reply. John instantly darted at 
Mohawk, intending to make him atone in a frightful manner for the injury done his brother. 
The savage fled towards the camp, and as Diver gained rapidly upon him, Mohawk threw 
himself from the road into the woods, uttering a horrid yell. Diver now perceiving the 
other Indians returning toward him, fled in turn to his brother and took him into the house. 
The wound, although dangerous, was not mortal, and he was living as late as 1847. 

The Indians hurried to their encampment, and from thence fled in a northwest direction. 
The alarm spread throughout the settlement, and in a few hours there were twenty-five 
men on the spot ready for the pursuit. Before daylight this party—among which was Alva 
Day, Major H. Rogers, Jas. Laughlin, Alex. K. Hubbard and Ira Mansfield—were in hot 
pursuit upon their trail. The weather being intensely cold and the settlements far apart, 
they suffered exceedingly. Twenty of them had their feet frozen, and many of them were 
compelled to stop; but their number was kept good by additions from the settlements 
through which they passed. 

On the succeeding night the party came up with the fugitives, encamped on the west side 
of the Cuyahoga, in the present town of Boston. The whites surrounded them ; but 
Nicksaw and Mohawk escaped. They were overtaken and commanded to surrender, or 
be shot. Continuing their flight, Williams, of Hudson, fired, and Nicksaw fell dead; 
but Mohawk escaped. The whites returned to Deerfield with Bigson and his two sons. 
A squaw belonging to them was allowed to escape, and, it is said, perished in the snow. 
On arriving at the centre of Deerfield, where the tragedy had been acted, Bigson appeared 
to be overpowered with grief, and giving vent to a flood of tears, took an affectionate leave 
of his sons, expecting here to loose his life according to a custom of the Indians. They 
were taken before Lewis Day, Esq., who, after examination, committed them to prison at 
Warren. 

The sequel of this story we take from the narrative of Mr. Cor¬ 
nelius Feather, in the papers of the Ashtabula Historical Society. 

It was heart-rending to visit this group of human misery, at Warren, and hear their 
lamentations. The poor Indians were not confined, for they could not run away. The 
narrator has seen this old frost-crippled chief Bigson,* who had been almost frozen to death, 
sitting with the others on the bank of the Mahoning, and heard him, in the Indian tongue, 
with deep touching emotions, in the highest strain of his native oratory, addressing his 
companions in misery,—speaking the language of his heart; pointing towards the rising, 
then towards the setting sun, to the north, to the south, till sobs choked his utterance, and 
tears followed tears down his sorrow-worn cheeks. 

At the trial, nothing was found against the prisoners. Nicksaw was followed to San¬ 
dusky, perhaps Detroit, by the whites, of whom he killed two or three, and wounded 
others, but was not taken by them. After which, a few resolute Indians at Sandusky, en¬ 
gaged to take and deliver him either dead or alive to the whites, for $100. Armed with 
rifles and tomahawks, they traced him out, and had a bloody fight. He killed two or three 
of them, but they succeeded in taking him alive. He was brought to Cleveland, tried, and 
sentenced to be hung. 

This sentence, “ to be hanged,” so repugnant, so disgraceful in any nation, according to 
the Indian idea of national honor, caused great excitement. Like an electric shock, every 
tribe in the territory felt its effects. The Indians proposed to pay 100 pairs of buckskin 
pantaloons, that he might be delivered up to them to be shot, tomahawked, burned, or tor¬ 
tured to death in any way, rather than that their national honor should be disgraced by the 
execution of one Indian by the halter. Fearing that the Indians would rise in one body 
and attempt his rescue, the militia were called out to guard the prison, and he was finally 
hanged without any disturbance from them. 

We now return to the Barr mss. for another incident of early 
times, exhibiting something of Indian gratitude and customs. 


* Bigson, the chief, was intelligent, robust and brave. He had long been the friend of the 
whites, had fought with them under Wayne, and been entrusted by that general with im¬ 
portant and hazardous missions. 


53 



418 


PORTAGE COUNTY. 


John Hendricks, an Indian, for some time lived in a camp on the bank of the Mahoning, 
with his family—a wife and two sons—and was much respected by the settlers. Early in 
1802, one of his sons, a child about 4 years of age, was taken sick, and during his illness 
was treated with great kindness by Mr. Jas. Laughlin and lady, who lived near. He died 
on the 4th of March, and his father having expressed a desire to have him interred in the 
place where the whites intended to bury their dead, a spot was selected near the residence 
of Lewis Day, which is to this time used as a grave-yard. A coffin was prepared by Mr. 
Laughlin and Alva Day, and he was buried according to the custom of the whites. Ob¬ 
serving the earth to fall upon the board and not upon the body of his deceased son, Hen¬ 
dricks exclaimed in a fit of ecstacy, “ Body no broken!” 

Some days after, Mr. Day observed these Indians near the grave, apparently washing 
some clothing, and then digging at the grave. After they had retired, prompted by curi¬ 
osity, Mr. Day examined the grave and found the child’s clothes just washed and carefully 
deposited with the body. Shortly after, he inquired of Hendricks why he had not buried 
them at the funeral. “ Because they were not clean,” replied he. These Indians soon 
left the neighborhood, and did not return for one or two years. Meeting with Mr. Laugh¬ 
lin, Hendricks ran towards him, and throwing himself into his arms, embraced and kissed 
him with the deepest affection, exclaiming, “ body no broke ! body no broke !” 

The first improvements in Palmyra were made in 1799, by David 
Daniels, from Salisbury, Ct. The succeeding year he brought out 
his family. E., N. and W. Bacon, E. Cutler, A. Thurber, A. Pres¬ 
ton, N. Bois, J. T. Baldwin, T. and C. Gilbert, D., A. and S. Waller, 
N. Smith, Joseph Fisher, J. Tuttle, and others came not long after. 

On the first settlement of the township, there were several families of Onondaga and 
Oneida Indians who carried on a friendly intercourse with the people, until the difficulty at 
Deerfield, in 1806, in the shooting of Diver. 

When this region was first settled, there was an Indian trail commencing at Fort M’ln- 
tosh, (where Beaver, Pa., now is,) and extending westward to Sandusky and Detroit. This 
trail followed the highest ground. It passed by the Salt Springs, in Howland, Trumbull 
county, and running through the northern part of Palmyra, crossed Silver creek in Edin¬ 
burgh, miles north of the centre road. Along this trail, parties of Indians were fre¬ 
quently seen passing, for several years after the white settlers came. In fact, it seemed to 
be the great thoroughfare from Sandusky to Ohio river and Du Quesne. There are several 
large piles of stones by this trail in Palmyra, under which human skeletons have been dis¬ 
covered. These are supposed to be the remains of Indians slain in war, or murdered by 
their enemies; as tradition says,, it is an Indian practice for each one to cast a stone upon 
the grave of an enemy, whenever he passes by. These stones appear to have been picked 
up along the trail, and cast upon the heaps at different times. 

At the point where this trail crosses Silver creek, Frederick Daniels and others in 1814, 
discovered painted on several trees various devices, evidently the work of Indians. The 
bark was carefully shaved off two-thirds of the way around, and figures cut upon the wood. 
On one of these was delineated seven Indians, equipped in a particular manner, one of 
which was without a head. This was supposed to have been made by a party on their re¬ 
turn westward, to give intelligence to their friends behind, of the loss of one of their party 
at this place ; and on making search a human skeleton was discovered near by. 

Franklin Mills is 6 miles west of Ravenna on the Cleveland road, 
Cuyahoga river and Mahoning canal. In the era of speculation a 
large town was laid out here, great prices paid for “ city lots,” and in 
the event large quantities of money exchanged hands. It however 
possesses natural resources that in time may make it an important 
manufacturing town, the Cuyahoga having here two falls, one of 17 
and the other of 25 feet. The village is much scattered. It con¬ 
tains 1 Congregational, 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal and 1 Methodist 
church, 4 mercantile stores, 2 flouring mills, 2 woollen factories, and 
about 400 inhabitants. 

The noted Indian fighter, Brady, made his celebrated leap across 
the Cuyahoga about 200 yards above the bridge at this place. The 


PORTAGE COUNTY, 


419 


appearance of the locality has been materially altered by blasting 
rocks for the canal. Brady’s pond—so called from being the place 
where he secreted himself on the occasion related below, from a 



Brady’s Pond. 

published source—is about miles from the village, and a few hun¬ 
dred yards north of the road to Ravenna. It is a small but beauti¬ 
ful sheet of water, the shores of which are composed of a white 
sand, finely adapted to the manufacture of glass. 

Capt. Samuel Brady seems to have been as much the Daniel Boone of the northeast part 
of the valley of the Ohio, as the other was of the southwest, and the country is equally frill 
of traditionary legends of his hardy adventures and hair-breadth escapes. From undoubted 
authority, it seems the following incident actually transpired in this vicinity. Brady’s resi¬ 
dence was on Chartier’s creek on the south side of the Ohio, and being a man of herculean 
strength, activity and courage, he was generally selected as the leader of the hardy border¬ 
ers in all their incursions into the Indian territory north of the river. On this occasion, 
which was about the year 1780, a large party of warriors from the falls of the Cuya¬ 
hoga and the adjacent country, had made an inroad on the south side of the Ohio river, in 
the lower part of what is now Washington county, on which was then known as the set¬ 
tlement of “ Catfish Camp,” after an old Indian of that name who lived there when he 
whites first came into the country on the Monongahela river. This party had murdered 
several families, and with the “ plunder” had recrossed the Ohio before effectual pursuit 
could be made. By Brady a party was directly summoned, of his chosen followers, who 
hastened on after them, but the Indians having one or two days the start, he could not 
overtake them in time to arrest their return to their villages. Near the spot where the town 
of Ravenna now stands, the Indians separated into two parties, one of which went to the 
north, and the other west, to the falls of the Cuyahoga. Brady’s men also divided ; a part 
pursued the northern trail, and a part went with their commander to the Indian village, lying 
on the river in the present township of Northampton, in Summit county. Although Brady 
made his approaches with the utmost caution, the Indians, expecting a pursuit, were on the 
look-out, and ready to receive him, with numbers four-fold to those of Brady’s, whose only 
safety was in hasty retreat, which, from the ardor of the pursuit, soon became a perfect 
flight. Brady directed his men to separate, and each one to take care of himself; but the 
Indians knowing Brady, and having a most inveterate hatred and dread of him, from 
the numerous chastisements which he had inflicted upon them, left all the others, and 
with united strength pursued him alone. The Cuyahoga here makes a wide bend to the 
south, including a large tract of several miles of surface, in the form of a peninsula : within 
this tract the pursuit was hotly contested. The Indians, by extending their line to the 
right and left, forced him on to the bank of the stream. Having, in peaceable times, often 














420 


PREBLE COUNTY. 


hunted over this ground with the Indians, and knowing every turn of the Cuyahoga as fa¬ 
miliarly as the villager knows the streets of his own hamlet, Brady directed his course to 
the river, at a spot where the whole stream is compressed, by the rocky cliffs, into a narrow 
channel of only 22 feet across the top of the chasm, although it is considerably wider be¬ 
neath, near the water, and in height more than twice that number of feet above the cur¬ 
rent. Through this pass the water rushes like a race-horse, chafing and roaring at the 
confinement of its current by the rocky channel, w'hile, a short distance above, the stream 
is at least fifty yards wide. As he approached the chasm, Brady, knowing that life or 
death was in the effort, concentrated his mighty powers, and leaped the stream at a single 
bound. It so happened, that on the oppbsite cliff, the leap was favored by a low place, 
into which he dropped, and grasping the bushes, he thus helped himself to ascend to the 
top of the cliff. The Indians, for a few moments, were lost in wonder and admiration, 
and before they had recovered their recollection, he was half way up the side of the oppo¬ 
site hill, but still within reach of their rifles. They could easily have shot him at any 
moment before, but being bent on taking him alive, for torture, and to glut their long-delayed 
revenge, they forbore to use the rifle ; but now seeing him likely to escape, they all fired upon 
him ; one bullet severely wounded him in the hip, but not so badly as to prevent his pro¬ 
gress. The Indians having to make a considerable circuit before they could cross the 
stream, Brady advanced a good distance ahead. His limb was growing stiff from the 
wound, and as the Indians gained on him, he made for the pond which now bears his 
name, and plunging in, swam under water a considerable distance, and came up under 
the trunk of a large oak, which had fallen into the pond. This, although leaving only a 
small breathing place to support life, still completely sheltered him from their sight. The 
Indians, tracing him by the blood to the water, made diligent search all round the pond, 
but finding no signs of his exit, finally came to the conclusion that he had sunk and was 
drowned. As they were at one time standing on the very tree, beneath which he was 
concealed,—Brady, understanding their language, was very glad to hear the result of their 
deliberations, and after they had gone, weary, lame and hungry, he made good his retreat 
to his own home. His followers also returned in safety. The chasm across which he 
leaped is in sight of the bridge where we crossed the Cuyahoga, and is known in all that 
region by the name of “ Brady's Leap ” 

Garrettsville, 12 miles ne. of Ravenna, on the Mahoning river, 
where there is considerable water power, has 4 churches, 4 stores, 
1 woollen, 1 chair and 1 axe factory, 2 flouring mills, and about 400 
inhabitants. Campbellsport, 3 miles se. of Ravenna, has 1 linseed 
oil, 1 woollen factory and several warehouses, it being an important 
point of shipment on the canal. Mogadore, 14 or 15 miles sw. of 
R., on the line of Summit, has about 200 inhabitants, and is noted 
for its extensive stone-ware manufactories. Deerfield, 15 se. of R., 
has a Methodist and Disciple’s church, and about 200 inhabitants. 
There are other small places in the county, but none of much im¬ 
portance. 


PREBLE. 

Preble was formed from Montgomery and Butler, March 1st, 
1808: it was named from Capt. Edward Preble, who was born at 
Portland, Maine, August 15th, 1761, and distinguished himself as a 
naval commander in the war of the revolution, and particularly in 
the Tripolitan war, and died on the 25th of August, 1806. The soil 
is various: the southern part is a light rich soil, and is interspersed 
by numerous streams: the remainder of the county is upland, in 
places wet, but fertile when brought under cultivation. There is an 



PREBLE COUNTY. 


421 


abundance of water power for milling purposes, and large quanti¬ 
ties of flour are manufactured. The principal productions are corn, 
oats, wheat, swine, wool, flax-seed and beef cattle. The following 
is a list of the townships in 1840, with their population. 

Dixon, 1281 Israel, 1538 Monroe, 1176 

Gasper, 836 Jackson, 1257 Somers, 1823 

Gratis, 1950 Jefferson, 2165 Twin, 1676 

Harrison, 1696 Lanier, 1624 Washington, 2459 

The population of Preble, in 1820, was 10,237; in 1830, 16,296; 
and in 1840, 19,481, or 47 inhabitants to a square mile. 

Eaton, the county seat, is 24 miles west of Dayton, 94 west of 
Columbus, and 9 east of the state line. It was laid out in 1806, by 



County Buildings at Eaton. 


William Bruce, then proprietor of the soil. It was named from 
Gen. Wm. Eaton, who was born in Woodstock, Ct., in 1764, served 
in the war of the revolution, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1790, 
was appointed a captain under Wayne, in 1792, also consul at Tunis 
in 1798; in April, 1804, he was appointed navy agent of the 
United States, with the Barbary powers to co-operate with Hamet, 
bashaw, in the war against Tripoli, in which he evinced great energy 
of character: he died in 1811. He was brave, patriotic and gen¬ 
erous. 

The turnpike from Dayton west leads through Eaton, and one also 
connects the place with Hamilton. The village contains 1 Presby¬ 
terian, 1 Methodist and 1 Public church, 1 book, 2 grocery and 4 dry 
goods stores, 1 or 2 newspaper printing offices, 1 woollen factory, 
1 saw mill, and about 1000 inhabitants. Near the town is an over¬ 
flowing well of strong sulphur water, possessing medicinal properties. 
About two miles south is Halderman’s quarry, from which is ob¬ 
tained a beautiful grey clouded stone: at the village is a limestone 
quarry, and the county abounds in fine building stone. 

About a mile west of Eaton is the site of Fort St. Clair, erected 
in the severe winter of 1791-2. At this time, Fort Jefferson was 
the farthest advanced post, being forty-four miles from Fort Ham- 





















422 


PREBLE COUNTY. 


ilton. This spot was chosen as a place of security, and to guard 
the communication between them. General Wilkinson sent Major 
John S. Gano, belonging to the militia of the territory, with a party 
to build the work. General Harrison, then an ensign, commanded 
a guard, every other night, for about three weeks, during the build¬ 
ing of the fort. They had neither fire nor covering of any kind, 
and suffered much from the intense cold. It was a stockade, and 
had about 20 acres cleared around it. The outline can yet be dis¬ 
tinctly traced. 

On the 6th of November, 1792, a severe battle was fought almost 
under the cover of the guns of Fort St. Clair, between a corps of 
riflemen and a body of Indians. Judge Joel Collins of Oxford, who 
was in the action, gives the following facts respecting it, in a letter 
to James M’Bride, dated June 20th, 1843. 

The parties engaged were a band of 250 Mingo and Wyandot warriors, under the com¬ 
mand of the celebrated chief Little Turtle, and an escort of 100 mounted riflemen of the 
Kentucky militia, commanded by Capt. John Adair, subsequently governor of Kentucky. 
These men had been called out to escort a brigade of pack-horses, under an order from 
General Wilkinson. They could then make a trip from Fort Washington past Fort St. 
Clair, to Fort Jefferson, and return in six days, encamping each night under the walls of 
one of these military posts, for protection. 

The Indians being elated by the check they had given our army the previous year, in 
defeating St. Clair, determined to make a descent upon the settlement then forming at 
Columbia, at the mouth of the Little Miami. Some time in September, 250 warriors 
struck the war pole, and took up their line of march. Fortunately for the infant settle¬ 
ment, in passing Fort Hamilton they discovered a fatigue party, with a small guard, chop¬ 
ping fire-wood, east of the fort. While the men were gone to dinner, the Indians formed 
an ambuscade, and on their return captured two of the men. The prisoners informed the 
Indians, that on the morning previous—which must have been on Friday—that a brigade 
of some 50 or 100 pack-horses, loaded with supplies for the two military posts in advance, 
had left Fort Hamilton, escorted by a company of riflemen, mounted on fine horses, and 
that if they made their trip in the usual tune, they would be at Fort Hamilton, on their 
return, Monday night. Upon this information, Little Turtle abandoned his design of 
breaking up the settlement above Cincinnati, and fell back some 12 or 15 miles, with a 
view of intercepting the brigade on its return. He formed an ambuscade on the trace, at 
a well-selected position, which he occupied through the day that he expected the return of 
the escort. But as Captain Adair arrived at Fort Jefferson on Saturday night, he per¬ 
mitted his men and horses to rest themselves over Sunday, and thus escaped the ambus¬ 
cade. On Monday night, when on their return, they encamped within a short distance of 
Fort St. Clair. The judge says: “ The chief of the band of Indians being informed of our 
position, by his runners, concluded that by a night attack, he could drive us out of our en¬ 
campment. Accordingly he left his ambush, and a short time before day-break, on Tues¬ 
day morning, the Indians, by a discharge of rifles and raising the hideous yells for which 
they are distinguished, made a simultaneous attack on three sides of the encampment, 
leaving that open next to the fort. The horses became frightened, and numbers of them 
broke from their fastenings. The camp, in consequence of this, being thrown into some con¬ 
fusion, Captain Adair retired with his men, and formed them in three divisions, just beyond 
the shine of the fires, on the side next the fort; and while the enemy were endeavoring to 
secure the horses and plunder the camp—which seemed to be their main object—they were 
in turn attacked by us, on their right, by the captain and his division ; on the left, by Lieut. 
George Madison, and in their centre, by Lieut. Job Hale, with their respective divisions. 
The enemy, however, were sufficiently strong to detail a fighting party, double our num¬ 
bers, to protect those plundering the camp and driving off the horses, and as we had left 
the side from the fort open to them, they soon began to move off, taking all with them. 

“ As soon as the day dawn afforded light sufficient to distinguish a white man from an 
Indian, there ensued some pretty sharp fighting, so close, in some instances, as to bring in 
use the war-club and tomahawk. Here Lieut. Hale was killed and Lieut. Madison 
wounded. As the Indians retreated, the white men hung on their rear, but when we 
pressed them too closer they would turn and drive us back. In this way a kind of running 


PREBLE COUNTY. 


423 


fight was kept up until after sun-rising, when we lost sight of the enemy and nearly all our 
horses, some where about where the town of Eaton now stands. On returning from the 
pursuit, our camp presented rather a discouraging appearance. Not more than six or eight 
horses were saved ; some twenty or thirty lay dead on the ground The loss of the enemy 
remains unknown: the bodies of two Indians were found among the dead horses. We 
gathered up our wounded, six in number, took them to the fort, where a room was assigned 
them as a hospital, and their wounds dressed by Surgeon Boyd, of the regular army. The 
wound of one man, John James, consisted of little more than the loss of his scalp. It 
appeared from his statement, that in the heat of the action, he received a blow on the side 
of his head with a war-club, which stunned so as to barely knock him down, when two or 
three Indians fell to skinning his head, and in a very short time took from him an unusually 
large scalp, and in the hurry of the operation, a piece of one of his ears. He recovered, 
and I understood, some years afterwards, that he was then living. Another of the 
wounded, Luke Vores, was a few years since living in Preble county. 

“ By sunset on the day of the action, we had some kind of rough coffins prepared for 
the slain. For the satisfaction of surviving friends, I will name them, and state that in 
one grave, some fifty paces west of the site of Fort St. Clair, are the remains of Captain 
Joab Hale ; next to him, on his left, we laid our orderly sergeant, Matthew English ; then 
followed the four privates, Robert Bowling, Joseph Clinton, Isaac Jett and John Williams. 
Dejection and even sorrow hung on the countenances of every member of the escort, as 
we stood around or assisted in the interment of these, our fellow comrades. Hale was a 
noble and brave man, fascinating in his appearance and deportment as an officer. It was 
dusk in the evening before we completed the performance of this melancholy duty. What 
a change ! The evening before, nothing within the encampment was to be seen or heard 
but life and animation. Of those not on duty, some were measuring their strength and 
dexterity at athletic exercises; some nursing, rubbing and feeding their horses; others 
cooking, &c. But look at us now, and behold the ways, chances and uncertainties of 
war. I saw and felt the contrast then, and feel it still, but am unable further to describe 
it here!” 

Between the site of Fort St. Clair and Eaton is the village grave¬ 
yard. This cemetery is adorned with several beautiful monu¬ 
ments. Among them is one to the memory of Fergus Holderman, 
who died in 1838. Upon it are some exquisitely beautiful devices, 
carved by “ the lamented Clevenger,” which are among his first 
attempts at sculpture. The principal object of attraction, however, 
is the monument to the memory of Lieut. Lowry and others, who 
fell with him in an engagement with a party of Indians commanded 
by Little Turtle, at Ludlow’s spring, near the Forty Foot Pitch in 
this county, on the 17th of October, 1793. This monument has 
recently been constructed by La’Dow &. Hamilton, of Dayton, at an 
expense of about $300, contributed by public-spirited individuals of 
this vicinity. It is composed of the elegant Rutland marble, is about 
12 feet in height, and stands upon one of those small artificial mounds 
common in this region. The view was taken from the east, beyond 
which, in the extreme distance in the forest, on the left, is the site 
of Fort St. Clair. This Lieut. Lowry was a brave man. His last 
words were: “ My brave boys, all you that can fight, now display 
your activity and let your balls fly !” The slain in the engagement 
were buried at the fort. On the 4th of July, 1822, the remains of 
Lowry were taken up and re-interred, with the honors of war, in 
this grave yard, twelve military officers acting as pall-bearers, fol¬ 
lowed by the orator, chaplain and physicians, under whose direction 
the removal was made, with a large concourse of citizens and two 
military companies. The remains of the slain commander and 
soldiers have been recently removed to the mound, which, with the 


424 


PREBLE COUNTY, 



monument, will “ mark their resting place, and be a memento of 
their glory for ages to come.” 


Lowry’s Monument. 

We give a letter narrating an account of this action, written by 
Gen. Wayne to the secretary of war, and dated “Camp, southwest 
branch of the Miami, six miles advanced of Fort Jefferson, October 
23d, 1793.” 

The greatest difficulty which at present presents, is that of furnishing a sufficient escort 
to secure our convoy of provisions and other supplies from insult and disaster; and at the 
same time retain a sufficient force in camp to sustain and repel the attacks of the enemy, 
who appear desperate and determined. We have recently experienced a little check to 
our convoys, which may probably be exaggerated into something serious by the tongue of 
fame, before this reaches you. The following, however, is the fact, viz: Lieut. Lowry, of 
the 2d sub-legion, and Ensign Boyd, of the 1st, with a command consisting of 90 non-com¬ 
missioned officers and privates, having in charge 20 wagons belonging to the quarter-master 
general’s department, loaded with grain, and one of the contractor’s, [wagons,] loaded with 
stores, were attacked early on the morning of the 17th inst., about 7 miles advanced of 
Fort St. Clair, by a party of Indians. Those gallant young gentlemen—who promised at 
a future day to be ornaments to their profession—together with 13 non-commissioned offi¬ 
cers and privates, bravely fell, after an obstinate resistance against superior numbers, being 
abandoned by the greater part of the escort upon the first discharge. The savages killed 
or carried off about 70 horses, leaving the wagons and stores standing in the road, which 
have all been brought to this camp without any other loss or damage, except some trifling 
articles. 

Little Turtle, whose name has been mentioned in the preceding 
pages, was a distinguished chief and counsellor of the Miamis, by 
whom he was called Meshekenoghqua. He commanded the Indians 
at St. Clair’s defeat. We annex a sketch of him from Drake’s In¬ 
dian Biography. 

It has been generally said, that had the advice of this chief been taken at the disastrous 





PREBLE COUNTY, 


425 


fight afterwards with General Wayne, there is but little doubt but he had met as ill-success 
as General St. Clair. He was not for fighting General Wayne at Presque Isle, and inclined 
rather to peace than fighting him at all. In a council held the night before the battle, he 
argued as follows: “ We have beaten the enemy twice, under separate commanders. We 
cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans are now led by 
a chief who never sleeps ; the night and the day are alike to him. And during all the time 
that he has been marching upon our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our 
young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is some¬ 
thing whispers me, it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace.” For holding this 
language, he was reproached by another chief with cowardice, which put an end to all 
farther discourse. Nothing wounds the feelings of a warrior like the reproach of cowardice, 
but he stifled his resentment, did his duty in the battle, and its issue proved him a truer 
prophet than his accuser believed. 

Little Turtle lived some years after the war, in great esteem among men of high stand¬ 
ing. He was alike courageous and humane, possessing great wisdom. “And,” says 
Schoolcraft, “ there has been few individuals among aborigines who have done so much to 
abolish the rites of human sacrifice. The grave of this noted warrior is shown to visitors, 
near Fort Wayne. It is frequently visited by the Indians in that part of the country, by 
whom his memory is cherished with the greatest respect and veneration.” 

When the philosopher and famous traveller, Volney, was in America, in the winter of 
1797, Little Turtle came to Philadelphia, where he then was, and who sought immediate 
acquaintance with the celebrated chief, for highly valuable purposes, which in some measure 
he effected. He made a vocabulary of his language, which he printed in the appendix to 
his travels. A copy in manuscript, more extensive than the printed one, is in the library of 
the Philosophical Society of Pennsylvania. 

Having become convinced that all resistance to the whites was vain, he brought his 
nation to consent to peace, and to adopt agricultural pursuits. And it was with the view 
of soliciting congress and the benevolent society of Friends for assistance to effect this 
latter purpose, that he now visited Philadelphia. While here he was inoculated for the 
small pox, and was afflicted with the gout and rheumatism. 

At the time of Mr. Volney’s interview with him for information, he took no notice of the 
conversation while the interpreter was communicating with Mr. Volney, for he did not 
understand English, but walked about, plucking out his beard and eye-brows. He was 
dressed now in English clothes. His skin, where not exposed, Mr. Volney says, was as 
white as his; and on speaking upon the subject, Little Turtle said: “ I have seen Span¬ 
iards in Louisiana, and found no difference of color between them and me. And why 
should there be any? In them, as in us, it is the work of the father of colors, the sun 
that bums us. You white people compare the color of your face with that of your bodies.” 
Mr. Volney explained to him the notion of many, that his race was descended from the 
Tartars, and by a map showed him the supposed communication between Asia and America. 
To this, Little Turtle replied: “ Why should not these Tartars, who resemble us, have 
come from America ? Are there any reasons to the contrary ? Or why should we not 
both have been in our own country ?” It is a fact that the Indians give themselves a name 
which is equivalent to our word indigine, that is, one sprung from the soil, or natural 
to it. 

When Mr. Volney asked Little Turtle what prevented him from living among the whites, 
and if he were not more comfortable in Philadelphia than upon the banks of the Wabash, 
he said: “ Taking all things together you have the advantage over us; but here I am deaf 
and dumb. I do not talk your language ; I can neither hear, nor make myself heard. 
When I walk through the streets, I see every person in his shop employed about something: 
one makes shoes, another hats, a third sells cloth, and every one lives by his labor. I say 
to myself, which of all these things can you do? Not one. I can make a bow or an 
arrow, catch fish, kill game, and go to war: but none of these is of any use here. To 
learn what is done here would require a long time.” “ Old age comes on.” “ I should be 
a piece of furniture useless to my nation, useless to the whites, and useless to myself.” “ I 
must return to my own country.” 

Col. John Johnston has given in his “Recollections,” published in 
Cist’s Advertiser, some anecdotes of Little Turtle. 

Little Turtle was a man of great wit, humor and vivacity, fond of the company of gen¬ 
tlemen, and delighted in good eating. When I knew him, he had two wives living with 
him under the same roof in the greatest harmony; one, an old woman, about his own* 
age—fifty—the choice of his youth, who performed the drudgery of the house; the other, 

54 


426 


PUTNAM COUNTY. 


a young and beautiful creature of eighteen, who was his favorite ; yet it never was dis¬ 
covered by any one that the least unkind feeling existed between them. This distinguished 
chief died at Fort Wayne about twenty-five years ago, of a confirmed case of the gout, 
brought on by high living, and was buried with military honors by the troops of the United 
States. The Little Turtle used to entertain us with many of his war adventures, and would 
laugh immoderately at the recital of the following:—A white man, a prisoner of many 
years in the tribe, had often solicited permission to go on a war party to Kentucky, and had 
been refused. It never was the practice with the Indians to ask or encourage white prisoners 
among them to go to war against their countrymen. This man, however, had so far 
acquired the confidence of the Indians, and being very importunate to go to war, the Turtle 
at length consented, and took him on an expedition into Kentucky. As was their practice, 
they had reconnoitered during the day, and had fixed on a house recently built and occu¬ 
pied, as the object to be attacked next morning a little before the dawn of day. The house 
was surrounded by a clearing, there being much brush and fallen timber on the ground. At 
the appointed time, the Indians, with the white man, began to move to the attack. At all 
such times no talking or noise is to be made. They crawl along the ground on hands and 
feet; all is done by signs from the leader. The white man all the time was striving to be 
foremost, the Indians beckoning him to keep back. In spite of all their efforts he would 
keep foremost, and having at length got within running distance of the house, he jumped 
to his feet and went with all his speed, shouting, at the top of his voice, Indians! Indians! 
The Turtle and his party had to make a precipitate retreat, losing forever their white com¬ 
panion, and disappointed in their fancied conquest of the unsuspecting victims of the log 
cabin. From that day forth this chief w r ould never trust a white man to accompany him 
again to war. 

During the presidency of Washington, the Little Turtle visited that great and just man 
at Philadelphia, and during his whole life after, often spoke of the pleasure which that visit 
afforded him. Kosciusko, the Polish chief, was at the time in Philadelphia, confined by 
sickness to his lodgings, and hearing of the Indians being in the city, he sent for them, 
and after an interview of some length, he had his favorite brace of pistols brought forth, 
and addressing the chief. Turtle, said—I have carried and used these in many a hard fought 
battle in defence of the oppressed, the weak and the wronged of my own race, and I now 
present them to you with this injunction, that with them you shoot dead the first man that 
ever comes to subjugate you or despoil you of your country. The pistols were of the best 
quality and finest manufacture, silver mounted, with gold touch-holes. 

New Paris, about 11 miles nw. of Eaton, on the east fork of 
White Water river, is a flourishing town: it contains 2 or 3 churches, 
4 stores, 1 woollen factory, 3 flouring and some saw mills, and 
about 600 inhabitants. In the neighborhood are limestone quarries, 
from which large quantities of excellent lime are made. Camden, 
a thriving town, 8 miles s. of Eaton, on the Hamilton turnpike, has 
2 churches, 3 dry goods stores, 3 flouring and 2 or 3 saw mills, and 
about 450 inhabitants. West Alexandria, 5 miles e. of E., on the 
Dayton turnpike, Euphenia, on the national road, 11 ne., Lewisburg, 
10 ne., and Winchester, 9 se., are villages having each more or less 
churches and stores, and about 50 dwellings. Fair Haven, West- 
ville, New Florence and Rising Sun are small places. 


PUTNAM. 

Putnam was formed from Old Indian territory, April 1st, 1820, 
and named from Gen. Israel Putnam, who was born at Salem, Mass., 
January 7th, 1718, and died at Brooklyn, Conn., May 29th, 1790. 
The surface is generally level, and much of the land being within 
the Black Swamp district, is wet, but when cleared and drained, 
very fertile. The principal productions are com, wheat, potatoes, 



PUTNAM COUNTY. 


427 


Blanchard, 670 
Greensburgh, 275 
Jennings, 350 

Liberty, 125 


oats and pork. The following is a list of the townships in 1840, 
with their population. 

Monroe, 518 Richland, 387 

Ottawa, 690 Riley, 621 

Perry, 266 Sugar Creek, 505 

Pleasant, 325 Union, 400 

The population of Putnam, in 1830, was 230, and in 1840, 5132, 
or 9 inhabitants to a square mile. 

A large proportion of the population is from eastern Ohio, and 
of Pennsylvania extraction. In Ottawa, Greensburgh, Riley and 
Jennings are many natives of Germany. The site of old Fort Jen¬ 
nings is in the southwest part. There were two Indian towns in the 
county of some note: the upper ’Tawa town was on Blanchard’s 
fork; two miles below, on the site of the present Ottawa village, 
was the lower ’Tawa town. 

Kalida, the county seat, is on Ottawa river, 114 miles northwest 
of Columbus. It was laid out in 1834, as the seat of justice, and 
named from a Greek word, signifying “ beautiful .” It contains a 
Methodist church, 4 stores, a newspaper printing office, and 36 
dwellings. 

In Riley is a settlement of “ Aymish or Ornish,” a sect of the 
“Memnonites or Harmless Christians.” They derive their name 
from Aymen, their founder, and were originally known as Aymenites. 
This sect wear long beards, and reject all superfluities in dress, diet 
and property. They have ever been remarkable for industry, fru¬ 
gality, temperance and simplicity: At an early day many of the 
Ornish emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania. When they first 
came to the country they had neither churches nor grave yards. 
“ A church,” said they, “ we do not require, for in the depth of the 
thicket, in the forest, on the water, in the field and in the dwelling, 
God is always present.” Many of their descendants, deviating from 
the practice of their forefathers, have churches and burial grounds. 

The view, “ a home in the wilderness,” represents a log tavern in 
the western part of the county, on the road to Charloe. It was built 
about 30 years since by two men, assisted by a female. It has long 
been a favorite stopping place for travellers, as many as twenty or 
thirty having, with their horses, frequently tarried here over night, 
when journeying through the wilderness. The situation is charm¬ 
ing. It is on the banks of the Auglaize, which flows in a ravine 
some fifteen or twenty feet below. All around stand massive trees, 
with foliage luxuriantly developed by the virgin fertility of the soil, 
while numerous branches lave in the passing waters. We came 
suddenly upon the place on a pleasant day in June, 1846, and were 
so much pleased with its primitive simplicity and loveliness, as to 
stop and make a more familiar acquaintance. We alighted from our 
faithful “ Pomp,” turned him loose among the fresh grass, drew our 
portfolio from our saddle-bags, and while he was rolling amid the 
clover in full liberty, and the ladies of the house were seated sewing 
in the open space between the parts of the cabin, fanned by a gentle 


428 


RICHLAND COUNTY. 


breeze, and perhaps listening to the warblings of the birds and mur- 
murings of the waters,—we took a sketch, as a memorial of a scene 
we shall never forget, and to present to our readers a view of “a 
home in the wilderness.” 

Giiboa, Pendleton, Ottawa, Columbus, Grove, Madeira and Glan- 
dorff are all small places in this county, the largest of which, Giiboa, 
contains about 35 dwellings. 


RICHLAND. 


Richland was organized March 1st, 1813, and named from the 
character of its soil. About one-half of the county is level, inclining 
to clay, and adapted to grass. The remainder is rolling, adapted to 
wheat, and some parts to corn, and well watered. The principal 
agricultural products are wheat, oats, corn, hay and potatoes ; all of 
which are raised in great abundance—and rye, hemp, barley, flax¬ 
seed, &c. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their 
population: the county was much reduced in 1846, by the creation of 
Ashland. 

Madison, 3206 

Mifflin, 1800 

Milton, 1861 

Monroe, 1627 

Montgomery, 2445 
Orange, 1840 

Perry, 1852 

Plymouth, 1934 


Auburn, 1020 

Bloomfield, 1294 

Blooming Grove, 1495 


Clear Creek, 
Congress, 
Franklin, 
Green, 
Hanover, 
Jefferson, 


1653 

1248 

1668 

2007 

1485 

2325 


Sandusky, 

Sharon, 

Springfield, 

Troy, 

Vermilion, 

Vernon, 

Washington, 

Worthington, 


1465 

1675 

1685 

1939 

2402 

1040 

1915 

1942 


The population of Richland, in 1820, was 9168 ; in 1830, 24,007; 
and in 1840, 44,823, or 49 inhabitants to the square mile. 


A large proportion of the early settlers of Richland emigrated from Pennsylvania, many 
of whom were of German origin. It was first settled, about the year 1809, on branches of 
the Mohiccan. The names of the first settlers, as far as recollected, are, Henry M’Cart, 
Andrew Craig, James Cunningham, Abm. Baughman, Henry Nail, Samuel Lewis, Peter 
Kinney, Calvin Hill, John Murphy, Thomas Coulter, Melzer Tannehill, Isaac Martin, Ste¬ 
phen Van Schoick, Archibald Gardner and James M’Clure, 

In September, 1812, shortly after the breaking out of the late war with Great Britain, two 
block-houses were built in Mansfield. One stood about six rods west of the site of the court 
house, and the other a rod or two north. The first was built by a company commanded by 
Capt. Shaeffer, from Fairfield county, and the other by the company of Col. Chas. Williams, 
of Coshoeton, A garrison was stationed at the place, until after the battle of the Thames. 

At the commencement of hostilities, there was a settlement of friendly Indians, of the 
Delaware tribe, at a place called Greentown, about 12 miles southeast of Mansfield, within 
the present township of Green. It was a village consisting of some 60 cabins, with a coun¬ 
cil-house about 60 feet long, 25 wide, one story in height, and built of posts and clapboarded. 
The village contained several hundred persons. As a measure of safety, they were col¬ 
lected, in August, 1812, and sent to some place in the western part of the state, under pro¬ 
tection of the government. They were first brought to Mansfield, and placed under guard, 
near where the tan-yard now is, on the run. While there, a young Indian and squaw came 
up to the block-house, with a request to the chaplain, Rev. James Smith of Mount Vernon, 
to marry them after the manner of the whites. In the absence of the guard, who had come 
up to witness the ceremony, an old Indian and his daughter, aged about 12 years, who 



SCENE ON TIIE AUGLAIZE:—A HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. 





























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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RICHLAND COUNTY. 


429 


were from Indiana, took advantage of the circumstance and escaped. Two spies from 
Coshocton, named Morrison and M’Culloch, met them near the run, about a mile north¬ 
west of Mansfield, on what is now the farm of E. P. Sturges. As the commanding offi¬ 
cer, Col. Kratzer, had given orders to shoot all Indians found out of the bounds of the place, 
under an impression that all such must be hostile, Morrison, on discovering them, shot 
the father through the breast. He fell mortally wounded, then springing up, ran about 200 
yards, and fell to rise no more. The girl escaped. The men returned and gave the infor¬ 
mation. A party of 12 men were ordered out, half of whom were under Serjeant John C. 
Gilkison, now of Mansfield. The men flanked on each side of the run. As Gilkison came 
up, he found the fallen Indian on the north side of the run, and at every breath he drew, 
blood flowed through the bullet hole in his chest. Morrison next came up, and called to 
M’Culloch to come and take revenge. Gilkison then asked the Indian who he was: he re¬ 
plied, “ a friend.” M’Culloch, who by this time had joined them, exclaimed as he drew 
his tomahawk, “ d—n you! I’ll make a friend of you!” and aimed a blow at his head ; 
but it glanced, and was not mortal. At this he placed one foot on the neck of the pros¬ 
trate Indian, and drawing out his tomahawk, with another blow buried it in his brains. 
The poor fellow gave one quiver, and then all was over. 

Gilkison had in vain endeavored to prevent this inhuman deed, and now requested M’Cul¬ 
loch to bury the Indian. “ D—n him ! no!” was the answer; “ they killed two or three 
brothers of mine, and never buried them.” The second day following, the Indian was 
buried, but it was so slightly done that his ribs were seen projecting above ground for two or 
three years after. 

This M’Culloch continued an Indian fighter until his death. He made it a rule to kill 
every Indian he met, whether friend or foe. Mr. Gilkison saw him some time after, on his 
way to Sandusky, dressed as an Indian. To his question, “ where are you going!” he re¬ 
plied, “ to get more revenge !” 

There was living at this time, on the Black Fork of the Mohiccan, about half a mile west 
of where Petersburgh now is, a Mr. Martin Ruffner. Having removed his family for safety, 
no person was with him in his cabin, excepting a bound boy. About two miles southeast 
stood the cabin of the Seymours. This family consisted of the parents—both very old peo¬ 
ple—a maiden daughter Catharine, and her brother Philip, who was a bachelor. 

One evening Mr. Ruffner sent out the lad to the creek bottom, to bring home the 
cows, when he discovered four Indians and ran. They called to him, saying that they 
would not harm him, but wished to speak to him. Having ascertained from him that the 
Seymours were at home, they left, and he hurried back and told Ruffner of the circumstance ; 
upon which he took down his rifle and started for Seymour’s. He arrived there, and was 
advising young Seymour to go to the cabin of a Mr. Copus, and get old Mr. Copus and his 
son to come up and help take the Indians prisoners, when the latter were seen approaching. 
Upon this young Seymour passed out of the back door and hurried to Copus’s, while the In¬ 
dians entered the front door, with their rifles in hand. 

The Seymours received them with an apparent cordiality, and the daughter spread the 
table for them. The Indians, however, did not appear to be inclined to eat, but soon arose 
and commenced the attack. Ruffner, who was a powerful man, made a desperate resist¬ 
ance. He clubbed his rifle, and broke the stock to pieces; but he fell before superior num¬ 
bers, and was afterwards found dead and scalped in the yard, with two rifle balls through 
him, and several fingers cut off by a tomahawk. The old people and daughter were found 
tomahawked and scalped in the house. 

In an hour or so after dark, young Seymour returned with Mr. Copus and son, making 
their way through the woods by the light of a hickory bark torch. Approaching the cabin, 
they found all dark and silent within. Young Seymour attempted to open the door, when 
it flew back. Reaching forward, he touched the corpse of the old man, and exclaimed in 
tones of anguish,“ here is the blood of my poor father!” Before they reached the place, 
they heard the Indians whistling on their powder chargers, upon which they put out the fight 
and were # not molested.* 

These murders, supposed to have been committed by some of the Greentown Indians, 
spread terror among the settlers, who immediately fortified their cabins and erected several 
block-houses. Among the block-houses erected was Nail’s on the Clear fork of the Mo¬ 
hiccan ; Beems’s on the Rocky fork; one on the site of Ganges, and a picketed house on 
the Black fork, owned by Thomas Coulter. 

Shortly after this, a party of 12 or 14 militia from Guernsey county, who were out on a 
scout, without any authority burnt the Indian village of Greentown, at this time deserted. 


* From Mr. Henry Nail. 



430 


RICHLAND COUNTY. 


At night they stopped at the cabin of Mr. Copus, on the Black fork, about 9 miles from 
Mansfield. The next morning, as four of them were at a spring washing, a few rods from 
the cabin, they were fired upon by a party of Indians in ambush. They all ran for the house, 
except Warnock, who retreated in another direction, and was afterwards found dead in the 
woods, about half a mile distant. His body was resting against a tree, with his handker¬ 
chief stuffed in the wound in his bowels. Two of the others, George Shipley and John 
Tedrick, were killed and scalped between the spring and the house. The fourth man, Robert 
Dye, in passing between the shed and cabin, suddenly met a warrior with his uplifted toma¬ 
hawk. He dodged and escaped into the house, carrying with him a bullet in his thigh. 

Mr. Copus at the first alarm had opened the door, and was mortally wounded by a rifle 
ball in his breast. He was laid on the bed, and the Indians shortly attacked the cabin. 
“ Fight and save my family,” exclaimed he, “ for I am a dead man.” The attack was 
fiercely made, and several balls came through the door, upon which they pulled up the pun¬ 
cheons from the floor and placed against it. Mrs. Copus and her daughter went up into 
the loft for safety, and the last was slightly wounded in the thigh, from a ball fired from a 
neighboring hill. One of the soldiers, George Launtz, was in the act of removing a chunk 
of wood to fire through, when a ball entered the hole and broke his arm. After this, he 
watched and saw an Indian put his head from behind a stump. He fired, and the fellow’s 
brains were scattered over it. After about an hour, the Indians having suffered severe loss, 
retreated.* Had they first attacked the house, it is probable an easy victory would have 
been gained by them. 

Mr. Levi Jones was shot by some Greentown Indians in the northern part of Mansfield, 
in the succeeding autumn, somewhere near the site of Riley’s mill. He kept a store in 
Mansfield, and when the Greentown Indians left, refused to give up some rifles they had 
left as security for debt. He was waylaid, and shot and scalped. The report of the rifles 
being heard in town, a party went out and found his body much mutilated, and buried him 
in the old grave yard. 

After the war, some of the Greentown Indians returned to the county to hunt, but their 
town having been destroyed, they had no fixed residence. Two of them, young men by 
the names of Seneca John and Quilipetoxe, came to Mansfield one noon, had a frolic in 
Williams’s tavern, on the site of the North American Hotel, and quarreled with some whites. 
About 4 o’clock in the afternoon they left, partially intoxicated. The others, five in num¬ 
ber, went in pursuit, vowing revenge. They overtook them about a mile east of town, shot 
them down, and buried them at the foot of a large maple on the edge of the swamp, by 
thrusting their bodies down deep in the mud. The skeletons remain to this day. The 
place is known as “ Spook Hollow.” 

Mansfield, the county seat, is 68 miles northerly from Columbus, 
25 from Mount Vernon, and about 45 from Sandusky City. Its situ¬ 
ation is beautiful, upon a commanding elevation, overlooking a 
country handsomely disposed in hills and valleys. The streets are 
narrow, and the town is compactly built, giving it a city-like appear¬ 
ance. The completion of the railroad through here to Sandusky 
City has added much to its business facilities, and it is now thriving 
and increasing rapidly. 

It was laid out in 1808, by James Hedges, Jacob Newman and 
Joseph H. Larwill. The last named gentleman pitched his tent on 
the rise of ground above the Big Spring, and opened the first sale of 
lots, on the 8th of October. The country all around was then a wil¬ 
derness, with no roads through it. The first purchasers came in 
from the counties of Knox, Columbiana, Stark, &c. Among the 
first settlers were George Coffinberry, William Winship, Rollin Wel- 


* We have three different accounts of this affair: one from Wyatt Hutchinson, of Guern¬ 
sey, then a lieutenant in the Guernsey militia ; one from Henry Nail, who was with some 
of the wounded men the night following ; and the last from a gentleman living in Mansfield 
at the time. Each differs in some essential particulars. Much experience has taught us 
that it is almost impossible to get perfectly accurate verbal narrations of events that have 
taken place years since, and which live only in memory. 




RICHLAND COUNTY. 


431 


don, J. C. Gilkison, John Wallace and Joseph Middleton. In 1817, 
about 20 dwellings were in the place—all cabins, except the frame 
tavern of Samuel Williams, which stood on the site of the North 
American, and is now the private residence of Joseph Hildreth, Esq. 
The only store at that time was that of E. P. Sturges, a small frame 
which stood on the northwest corner of the public square, on the 
spot where the annexed view was taken. The Methodists erected 
the first church. 



Public Square, Mansfield. 

Mansfield contains 1 Baptist, 1 Union, 1 Seceder, 1 Disciples’, 1 
Methodist, 1 Presbyterian and 1 Congregational church—the last of 
which is one of the most substantial and elegant churches in Ohio— 
two newspaper printing offices, two hardware, 1 book and 20 dry 
goods stores, and had, in 1840, 1328 inhabitants, and in 1846, 2330, 
since which it has much increased. 

Mansfield derived its name from Col. Jared Mansfield, who was bom in New Haven, 
Conn., about the year 1759. He graduated at Yale College in 1777, taught school first at 
New Haven, and afterwards at Philadelphia. Becoming known to Mr. Jefferson, he received 
the appointment of Professor of Natural Philosophy at the U. S. Military Academy at West 
Point. The publication of his Mathematical and Physical Essays about this time enhanced 
his reputation, and he took a high stand among the scientific men of the nation. About the 
year 1803, he was appointed by President Jefferson, Surveyor General of the United States 
for the Northwestern Territories, an office before held by Gen. Rufus Putnam. While in 
this office, he introduced many improvements in the mode of effecting surveys by rectangu¬ 
lar co-ordinates, which have been since followed and received the sanction of law. Col. 
Mansfield subsequently resumed the Professorship of Natural Philosophy at the Military 
Academy, w'here he continued until a few years previous to his death, when he retired to 
Cincinnati, and subsequently died while on a visit to his native city, Feb. 3d, 1830, aged 
71 years. 

Col. Mansfield was distinguished for extraordinary mathematical genius and rare attain¬ 
ments. He was a man of unexceptionable moral character, generous and sincere. 

At an early day, there was a very eccentric character who fre¬ 
quently was in this region, well remembered by the early settlers. 
His name was Jonathan Chapman, but he was usually known as 
























432 


RICHLAND COUNTY. 


Johnny Appleseed . He was originally, it is supposed, from New 

England. 

He had imbibed a remarkable passion for the rearing and cultivation of apple trees from 
the seed. He first made his appearance in western Pennsylvania, and from thence made his 
way into Ohio, keeping on the outskirts of the settlements, and following his favorite pursuit. 
He was accustomed to clear spots in the loamy lands on the banks of the streams, plant his 
seeds, enclose the ground, and then leave the place until the trees had in a measure grown. 
When the settlers began to flock in and open their “ clearings,” Johnny was ready for them 
with his young trees, which he either gave away or sold for some trifle, as an old coat, or 
any article of which he could make use. Thus he proceeded for many years, until the 
whole country was in a measure settled and supplied with apple trees, deriving self-satisfac¬ 
tion amounting to almost delight, in the indulgence of his engrossing passion. About 20 
years since he removed to the far west, there to enact over again the same career of hum¬ 
ble usefulness. 

His personal appearance was as singular as his character. He was a small “ chunked ” 
man, quick and restless in his motions and conversation ; his beard and hair were long and 
dark, and his eye black and sparkling. He lived the roughest life, and often slept in the 
woods. His clothing was mostly old, being generally given to him in exchange for apple 
trees. He went bare-footed, and often travelled miles through the snow in that way. In 
doctrine he was a follower of Swedenbourg, leading a moral, blameless life, likening himself 
to the primitive Christians, literally taking no thought for the morrow. Wherever he went 
he circulated Swedenborgian works, and if short of them, would tear a book in two and 
give each part to different persons. He was careful not to injure any animal, and thought 
hunting morally wrong. He was welcome every where among the settlers, and treated 
with great kindness even by the Indians. We give a few anecdotes, illustrative of his 
character and eccentricities. 

On one cool autumnal night, while lying by his camp-fire in the woods, he observed that 
the musquitoes flew in the blaze and were burnt. Johnny, who wore on his head a tin 
utensil which answered both as a cap and a mush pot, filled it with water and quenched 
the fire, and afterwards remarked, “ God forbid that I should build a fire for my comfort, 
that should be the means of destroying any of his creatures.” Another time he made 
his camp-fire at the end of a hollow log in which he intended to pass the night, but finding 
it occupied by a bear and her cubs, he removed his fire to the other end, and slept on the 
snow in the open air, rather than to disturb the bear. He was one morning in a prairie, and 
was bitten by a rattlesnake. Some time after, a friend inquired of him about the matter. 
He drew a long sigh and replied, “ Poor fellow ! he only just touched me, when I in an un¬ 
godly passion, put the heel of my scythe on him and went home. Some time after I went 
there for my scythe, and there lay the poor fellow dead.” He bought a coffee bag, made a 
hole in the bottom, through which he thrust his head and wore it as a cloak, saying it was 
as good as any thing. An itinerant preacher was holding forth on the public square in 
Mansfield, and exclaimed, “ where is the bare-footed Christian, travelling to heaven 1” 
Johnny, who was lying on his back on some timber, taking the question in its literal sense, 
raised his bare feet in the air, and vociferated “ here he is .'” 

Shelby, 11 miles nw. of Mansfield, on the railroad, Lexington, 6 sw., 
Ganges, 11 n., Belleville, 9 s. on the Mount Vernon road, and New- 
ville, 12 sb., are thriving villages, containing each from 40 to 80 dwel¬ 
lings. Olivesburg, Rome, Windsor, Lucas, Johnsville, Woodbury, 
Williamsport, Ontario, Bloominggrove, Newcastle, Millsborough, 
Shenandoah, London, Lafayette and Washington, are also small 
villages. 


ROSS. 

Ross was formed by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, August 20th, 
1798, being the sixth county formed in the North Western Territory. 
Its original limits were very extensive. It was named from the 



ROSS COUNTY. 


433 


Hon. James Ross, of Alleghany county, Pa., who at that time was 
the unsuccessful candidate of the Federalists for the office of gover¬ 
nor of that state. Much of the surface off from the valleys is hilly ; 
the land is generally good, and on the streams extremely fertile. 
The bottoms of the Scioto and Paint creek are famous for their 
abundant crops of corn. Much water power is furnished by the va¬ 
rious streams. The principal crops are corn, wheat and oats. It is 
also famed for its fine breeds of cattle, and has many swine. The 
following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population. 
Buckskin, 1729 Green, 1820 Paxton, 1226 

Colerain, 1281 Harrison, 631 

Concord, 2548 Huntington, 1159 

Deerfield, 1235 Jefferson, 871 

Eagle, 411 Liberty, 1256 

Franklin, 582 Paint, 1380 

The population of Ross in 1820, was 20,610; in 1830, 25,150, and 
in 1840, 25,263, or 37 inhabitants to a square mile. 

Such glowing descriptions of the beauty of the scenery and the 
fertility of the soil in the Scioto country, having been circulated 
through Kentucky, by Massie and others, who had explored it in 
1792, that portions of the Presbyterian congregations of Caneridge 
and Concord, in Bourbon, under Rev. Robert W. Finley, determined 
to emigrate thither in a body. They were in a measure induced to 
this step by their dislike of slavery, and the uncertainty that existed 
in regard to the validity of the land titles in that state. The Rev. 
Mr. Finley, as a preliminary step, liberated his slaves, and addressed 
a letter of inquiry to Col. Nathaniel Massie, in December, 1794. 


Scioto, 5354 

Springfield, 1062 
Twin, 2195 

Union, 2631 


That letter induced Col. Massie, who was a large landholder, to visit Mr. Finley in the 
succeeding March. A large concourse of people who wished to engage in the enterprize, 
assembled on the occasion, and fixed on a day to meet at the Three Islands in Manchester, 
and proceed on an exploring expedition. Mr. Finley also wrote to his friends in western 
Pennsylvania informing them of the time and place of rendezvous. 

About sixty men met according to appointment, who were divided into three companies, 
under Massie, Finley and Falenash. They proceeded on their route without interruption, 
until they struck the falls of Paint creek and proceeded a short distance down that stream, 
when they found themselves in the vicinity of some Indians who had encamped at Reeves’ 
crossings, near Bainbridge. The Indians were of those who had refused to attend Wayne’s 
treaty, and it was determined to give them battle, it being too late to retreat with safety. 
The Indians on being attacked soon fled with the loss of two killed and several wounded. 
One of the whites only, Joshua Robinson, was mortally wounded, and during the action a 
Mr. Armstrong, a prisoner with the Indians, escaped to his own people. The party gath¬ 
ered up all the plunder and retreated as far as Scioto Brush creek, where they were, ac¬ 
cording to expectation, attacked early the next morning. Only one man of the whites was 
wounded, Allen Gilfillan, and the party the next day reached Manchester and separated for 
their several homes. 

After Wayne’s treaty, Col. Massie and several of the old explorers again met at the 
house of Rev. Mr. Finley, formed a company and agreed to form a settlement in the en¬ 
suing spring, (1796,) and raise a crop of corn at the mouth of Paint creek. According to 
agreement, they met at Manchester about the first of April, to the number of forty and 
upwards, from Mason and Bourbon. Among them were Joseph M’Coy, Benj. and Wm. 
Rodgers, David Shelby, James Harrod, Henry, Bazil and Reuben Abrams, Wm. Jamison, 
Jas. Crawford, Samuel, Anthony and Robert Smith, Thos. Dick, Wm. and Jas. Kerr, Geo. 
and James Kilgore, John Brown, Samuel and Robt. Templeton, Ferguson Moore, Wm. 
Nicholson and J. B. Finley, now a Methodist clergyman. They divided into two companies, 
one of which struck across the country and the other came on in pirogues. The first ar- 

55 


434 


ROSS COUNTY. 


rived the earliest on the spot of their intended settlement, and had commenced erecting log 
huts above the mouth of Paint, at “ the Prairie station,” before the others had come on by 
water. About 300 acres of the prairie were cultivated in corn that season. 

In August of this year, 1796, Chillicothe was laid out by Col. Nathaniel Massie, in a 
dense forest. He gave a lot gratis to each of the first settlers, and by the last of autumn 
about twenty cabins were erected. Not long after, a ferry was established across the Scioto 
at the north end of Walnut street. The opening of Zane’s trace, very soon afterwards, 
produced a great chauge in the course of travel west, it having previously been along the 
Ohio in keel boats or canoes, or by land over the Cumberland mountains, through Crab Or¬ 
chard in Kentucky. 

The emigrants brought up some corn-meal in their pirogues, and after that was gone, 
their principal meal, until the next summer, was that pounded in hommony mortars, which 
when made into bread and anointed with bear’s oil, was quite palatable. 

When the settlers first came, whiskey was $4 50 per gallon ; but in the spring of 1797, 
when the keel boats began to run, the Monongahela whiskey makers having found a good 
market for their fire-water, rushed it in, in such quantities, that the cabins were crowded 
with it, and it soon fell to 50 cents. Men, women and children, with some exceptions, 
drank it freely, and many who had been respectable and temperate became inebriates. 
Many of Wayne’s soldiers and camp-women settled in the town, so that it for a time be¬ 
came a town of drunkards and a sink of corruption. There was a little leaven, which in 
a few months began to develope itself. 

In the spring of ’97, one Brannon stole a great coat, handkerchief and shirt. He and 
his wife absconded, were pursued, brought back, and a formal trial had. Samuel Smith 
was appointed judge, a jury empannelled, one attorney appointed by the judge to manage 
the prosecution and another the defence, witnesses were examined, the cause argued and 
the evidence summed up by the judge. The jury having retired a few minutes, returned 
with a verdict of guilty, and that the culprit be sentenced according to the discretion of the 
judge ; who soon announced that he should have ten lashes on his naked back, or that he 
should sit on a bare pack-saddle on his poney, and that his wife—who was supposed to 
have had some agency in the theft—should lead the poney to every house in the village, 
and proclaim, “ this is Brannon, who stole the great coat, handkerchief and shirtand 
that James B. Finley—now the Rev. J. B. Finley, chaplain of the Ohio penitentiary— 
should see the sentence faithfully executed.” Brannon chose the latter, and the ceremony, 
“ this is Brannon who stole the great-coat, handkerchief and shirt,” was at the door of 
every cabin in the village, in due form proclaimed by his wife, he sitting on a bare pack- 
saddle on his poney. It was performed in the presence of Mr. Finley, and when it was 
over, Brannon and his wife made off. 

Dr. Edw. Tiffin and Mr. Thomas Worthington of Berkeley county, Va., were brothers- 
in-law, and being moved by abolition principles liberated their slaves, intending to remove 
into the Territory. For the purpose of making preparations for their removal in the spring, 
Mr.•'Worthington, in 1797, visited Chillicothe and purchased several of the in and out lots 
of the town, and on one of the former he erected a two story frame-house, the same in 
which Mr. Campbell now resides on Second street, which was the first frame-house erected 
in Chillicothe. On his return to Virginia, having purchased a part of the farm on which 
his widow now resides, and another at the north fork of Paint, he contracted with a Mr. 
Joseph Yates, a mill-wright, and a Mr. Geo. Haines, a blacksmith, to come out \Vith him in 
the following winter or spring, and erect for him a grist and a saw-mill on his north fork 
tract. The summer, fall and following winter of that year, was marked with a rush of 
emigration, which spread over the high bank prairie. Pea-pea, Westfall, and a few miles up 
Paint and Deer creeks. 

Nearly all the first settlers were either regular members, or had been raised in the Pres¬ 
byterian church. Towards the fall of 1797, the leaven of piety retained by a portion of 
the first settlers began to diffuse itself through the mass, and a large log meeting-house was 
erected near the old grave-yard on this side of the bridge, and the Rev. Wm. Speer, a 
Presbyterian clergyman from Pennsylvania took charge. The sleepers served as seats for 
the hearers, and a split log table was used as a pulpit. Mr. Speer was a gentlemanly, 
moral man, tall and cadaverous in person, and wore the cocked hat of the revolutionary era. 

Thomas James arrived in February, 1798, bringing with him the first load of bar-iron 
in the Scioto valley, and about the same time arrived Maj. Elias Langham, an officer of the 
revolution. Dr. Tiffin and his brother Joseph arrived the same month from Virginia, and 
opened a store not far from the log meeting-house. A store was also opened previously by 
John M’Dougal. On the 17th of April, the families of Col. Worthington and Dr. Tiffin 
arrived, at which time the first marriage in the Scioto valley was celebrating; the parties 


ROSS COUNTY. 


435 


were George Kilgore and Elizabeth Cochran. The ponies of the attendants of the wed¬ 
ding were hitched to the trees along the streets, which then were not cleared out, nearly 
the whole town being a wilderness. Mr. Joseph Yates, Mr. George Hainep, and two or 
three others also arrived with the families of Tiffin and Worthington. 

Col. Worthington was appointed by Gen. Rufus Putnan, surveyor general of the N. W. 
Territory, surveyor of a large district of congress lands, then to be surveyed on the east 
side of the Scioto, and Maj. Langham and a Mr. Matthews were appointed to survey the 
residue of the lands, which afterward composed the Chillicothe land district. 

On their arrival, there were but four shingled-roof houses in town, on one of which the 
shingles were fastened with pegs. Col. Worthington’s was then the only house in town 
with glass windows. The sash of the hotel was filled with greased paper. 

The same season settlements were made about the Walnut Plains, by Samuel M’Culloch 
and others ; Springer, Osbourn, Thomas and Elijah Chenowith and Dyer, settled on Darby 
creek: Lamberts and others on Sippo ; on Foster’s bottom, by Samuel Davis, the Fosters 
and others. The following families also settled in and about Chillicothe; John Crouse, 
Wm. Keys, Wm. Lamb, John Carlisle, John M’Lanberg, Wm. Candless, the Stocktons, 
the Gregg’s, the Bates’s and others. 

Dr. Tiffin and his wife were the first Methodists that resided in the Scioto valley. He 
was a local preacher. In the fall, Worthington’s grist and saw mills, on the north fork of 
the Paint were finished—the first mills worthy of the name in the valley. 

Chillicothe was the point from which the settlements in the valley diverged. In May, 
1799, a post-office was established at Chillicothe, and Joseph Tiffin appointed post-master. 
Mr. Tiffin and Thomas Gregg opened taverns ; the first under the sign of “ Gen. Anthony 
Wayne,” was at the corner of Water and Walnut streets ; and the last under the sign of 
“ the Green Tree,” was on the corner of Paint and Water streets. In 1801, Nathaniel 
Willis moved in and established “ the Scioto Gazette.” 

In 1801, the settlers along the west side of the Scioto from Chillicothe to its mouth, 
were Joseph Kerr, Hugh Cochran, Joseph Campbell, the Johnsons, James Crawford, the 
Kirkpatricks, Chandlers, Beshongs, Montgomerys, Mountz’s, Fosters, Pancakes, Davis’s, 
Chenowiths, Sargents, Downings, Combess, Barnes’s, Utts’, Noels, Lucas’s, Swaynes’s, 
Williams and Collins, at Alexandria. On the east side of the Scioto, the Noels’, Thomp¬ 
son, Marshall, M’Quart, the Miller’s, Boylston, Talbot, Mustard, Clark, the Claypoles, 
Renicks, Harness’s, Carnes’s, and many others not recollected.* 

Chillicothe,*)' the seat of justice for Ross county, is situated on the 
west bank of the Scioto and on the line of the Ohio canal, 45 miles 
s. of Columbus, 93 from Cincinnati, 73 from Zanesville and 45 from 
the Ohio river at Portsmouth. The site is a level plain elevated 
about 30 feet above the river. The Scioto curves around it on the 
north, and Paint creek flows on the south. The plan and situation 
of Chillicothe, have been described as nearly resembling that of 
Philadelphia, the Scioto river and Paint creek representing in this 
case the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, and both towns being level 
and regularly laid out into squares. But here the comparison ter¬ 
minates. The scenery around Philadelphia is dissimilar and far infe¬ 
rior, as the view shown in the annexed engraving testifies. In truth, 
there are but few places in the country where the scenery partakes 
so much of the beautiful and magnificent as in this vicinity. 


* The preceding facts respecting the settlement of this county, are derived from the mss. 
of Hon. Thomas Scott, of Chillicothe. 

t Chillicothe appears to have been a favorite name with the Indians for their towns, 
there having been several of that name, viz: one on the site of Frankfort in this county; 
one on the site of Westfall in Pickaway ; one three miles north of Xenia in Greene; one 
on the site or Piqua, Miami county, and one on the Maumee. 

Col. John Johnston says, “ Chillicothe is the name of one of the principal tribes of the 
Shawanoese. The Shawanoese would say, Chillicothe otany , i. c., Chillicothe town. 
The Wyandots would say for Chillicothe town, Taf,a,ra,ra-Zto,£m, or town at the leaning 
bank.” 



436 


ROSS COUNTY. 


In 1800, the seat of government of the N. W. Territory was re¬ 
moved by law of congress from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. The 
sessions of the territorial legislature in that year and in 1801, were 
held in a small two story hewed log house, which stood on the cor¬ 
ner of Second and Walnut streets, and was erected in 1798, by Mr. 
Bazil Abrams. To the main building, extending along Walnut 
street towards the Scioto, was attached a hewed log wing of two 
stories in height. In the lower room of the wing, Col. Thos. Gib¬ 
son, then auditor for the territory kept his office, and in the upper 
lived a small family. In the upper room of the main building was 
a billiard table and a place of resort for gamblers; the lower room 
was used by the legislature, and as a court room, as a church, and 
a singing school. In the war of 1812, the building was a rendez¬ 
vous and barracks for soldiers, and in 1840 was pulled down. 

In 1800, the old state house was commenced, and finished the next 
year, for the accommoda¬ 
tion of the legislature and 
courts. It is believed that 
it was the first public stone 
edifice erected in the terri¬ 
tory. The mason work 
was done by Major Wm. 

Rutledge, a soldier of the 
revolution, and the carpen¬ 
tering by William Guthrie. 

The territorial legislature 
held their session in it for 
the first time in 1801. The 
convention that framed the 
constitution of Ohio was 
held in it, the session com¬ 
mencing on the first Mon¬ 
day in November, 1802. 

In April, 1803, the first state 
legislature met in the house, 
and held their sessions until 1810. The sessions of 1810-11, and 
1811-12, were held at Zanesville, and from there removed back to 
Chillicothe and held in this house until 1816, when Columbus became 
the permanent capitol of the state. This time-honored edifice is 
yet standing in the central part of the town, and is used as a court 
house for the county.*' 

Chillicothe was incorporated January 4th, 1802, and the following 
officers appointed: Samuel Finley, Ed. Tiffin, James Ferguson, 
Alexander M’Laughlin, Arthur Stewart, John Carlisle and Reuben 
Adams, members of the select council; Everard Harr, assessor; 
Isaac Brink, supervisor; Wm. Wallace, collector; Joseph Tiffin, 
town marshall. 

In 1807, Chillicothe had 14 stores, 6 hotels, 2 newspaper printing 



* American Pioneer. 


















ROSS COUNTY. 


437 


offices, a Presbyterian and a Methodist church, both brick buildings, 
on Main street, and 202 dwelling houses.* 

In the war of 1812, Chillicothe was a rendezvous for United States 
troops. They were stationed at Camp Bull, a stockade 1 mile n. of 
the town, on the west bank of the Scioto. A large number of British 
prisoners, amounting to several hundred, were at one time confined 
at the camp. On one occasion, a conspiracy was formed between 
the soldiers and their officers who were confined in jail. The plan 
was for the privates in camp to disarm their guard, proceed to the 
jail, release the officers, burn the town and escape to Canada. The 
conspiracy was disclosed by two senior British officers, upon which, 
as a measure of security, the officers were sent to the penitentiary 
in Frankfort, Ky.f 

Four deserters were shot at camp at one time. .The ceremony was impressive and hor¬ 
rible. The soldiers were all marched out under arms with music playing, to witness the 
death of their comrades, and arranged in one long extended line in front of the camp, facing 
the river. Close by the river bank at considerable distances apart, the deserters were 
placed, dressed in full uniform, with their coats buttoned up and'caps drawn over their faces. 
They were confined to stakes in a kneeling position behind their coffins, painted black, 
which came up to their waists, exposing the upper part of their persons to the fire of their 
fellow-soldiers. Two sections of six men each were marched before each of the doomed. 
Signals were given by an officer instead of words of command, so that the unhappy men 
should not be apprised of the moment of their death. At the given signal, the first sec¬ 
tions raised their muskets and poured the fatal volleys into the breasts of their comrades. 
Three of the four dropped dead in an instant; but the fourth sprang up with great force and 
gave a scream of agony. The reserve section stationed before him were ordered to their 
places, and another volley completely riddled his bosom. Even then the thread of life 
seemed hard to sunder. 

On another occasion, an execution took place at the same spot, under most melancholy 
circumstances. It was that of a mere youth of nineteen, the son of a widow. In a frolic 
he had wandered several miles from camp, and was on his return when he stopped at an inn 
by the way-side. The landlord, a fiend in human shape, apprised of the reward of $50 
offered for the apprehension of deserters, persuaded him to remain over night, with the 
offer of taking him into camp in the morning, at which he stated he had business. The 
youth unsuspicious of any thing wrong, accepted the offer made with so much apparent 
kindness, when lo! on his arrival the next day with the landlord, he surrendered him as a 
deserter, swore falsely as to the facts, claimed and obtained the reward. The court-mar¬ 
tial, ignorant of the circumstances, condemned him to death, and it was not until he was 
no more, that his innocence was known. 

The corpses of the deserters were placed in rough coffins made of poplar, and stained 
with lamp-black, and buried on the river margin. After a lapse of years, the freshets wash¬ 
ing away the earth, exposed their remains, and they were subsequently re-interred in a 
mound in the vicinity. 

Chillicothe contains 2 Presbyterian, 1 Associate Reformed Pres¬ 
byterian, 2 Methodist, 1 Methodist Reformed, 1 Episcopal, 1 Catho¬ 
lic, 1 Baptist, 1 German Lutheran, 1 German Methodist, 1 colored 
Baptist and 1 colored Methodist church, 1 male academy and 1 fe¬ 
male seminary, 38 retail and 2 wholesale dry goods, 4 wholesale 
grocery, 3 hardware, and 2 book stores, 8 forwarding houses, 5 
weekly newspapers, 1 bank, 4 merchant mills, making 10,000 bbls. of 
flour annually, and 4 establishments which pack annually about 
45,000 bbls. of pork. It is the centre of trade in the Scioto valley, 
and is connected with the river by the Ohio canal, which is rarely 
closed by ice. It has hydraulic works built at an expense of $75,000, 


* Notes of a Traveller. 


t Newspaper of the time. 



438 


ROSS COUNTY. 


which furnish water power in addition to that afforded by the canal. 
It lies on the route of the contemplated railroad from Cumberland 
to Cincinnati, and is at present progressing with a healthful and 
steady pace. On the hill west of the town is a mineral spring, said 
to possess fine medicinal properties. A beautiful cemetery, contain¬ 
ing 14 acres, has recently been laid out, and it is contemplated to 
supply the city with water from Paint creek, by hydraulic power, 
Its population in 1807, was about 1200; in 1820, 2416; in 1830, 
2840; in 1840, 3977, and in 1847, about 6220. 



Adena. 


Two or three miles nw. of Chillicothe, on a beautiful elevation 
commanding a magnificent view of the fertile valley of the Scioto 
and its bounding hills, is Adena, the seat of the late Gov. Worthing¬ 
ton. The mansion itself is of stone, is embosomed in shrubbery, 
and has attached a fine garden. It was erected in 1806, at which 
time it was the most elegant mansion in this part of the west, and 
crowds came to view it, in whose estimation the name of the place 
Adena, which signifies “ Paradise,” did not perhaps appear hyper¬ 
bolical. The large panes of glass, and the novelty of papered walls 
appeared especially to attract attention. Its architect was the elder 
Latrobe, of Washington city, from which place the workmen also 
were. Nearly all the manufactured articles used in its construction, 
as the nails, door knobs, hinges, glass, &c., were from east of the 
mountains. The glass was made at the works of Albert Gallatin and 
Mr. Nicholson, at Geneva, Pa. The fire-place fronts were of Phil¬ 
adelphia marble, which cost $7 per hundred for transportation. The 
whole edifice probably cost double what it would have done if 
erected at the present day. It is now the residence of the widow 
of the late governor, of whom we annex a brief notice. 

Thomas Woethington, one of the earliest and most distinguished pioneers of Ohio, was 
born in Jefferson county, Virginia, about the year 1769, and settled in Ross county in 1798. 
He brought from Virginia a large number of slaves, whom he emancipated, and some of 
their descendants yet remain in Chillicothe. A man of ardent temperament, of energy of 
mind, and correct habits of life, he soon became distinguished both in business and in politi¬ 
cal stations. He was a member of the convention of 1803, to form a state constitution, 
in which he was both able and active. Soon after that, he became a senator in congress 













ROSS COUNTY. 


439 


from the new state, and was a participant in the most important measures of the adminis¬ 
trations of Jefferson and Madison. At the close of his career in congress, he was elected 
governor of the state, in which capacity he was the friend and aid of all the liberal and wise 
measures of policy which were the foundation of the great prosperity of Ohio. After his 
retirement from the gubernatorial chair, he was appointed a member of the first board of 
canal commissioners, in which capacity he served till his death. A large landholder, en¬ 
gaged in various and extensive business, and for thirty years in public stations, no man in 
Ohio did more to form its character and promote its prosperity. He died in 1827. 

Near Adena, in a beautiful situation, is Fruit Hill, the seat of the 
late Gen. Duncan M’Arthur, and latterly the residence of his son-in- 
law, the Hon. Wm. Allen. 

Duncan M’ Arthur, who was of Scotch parentage, was born in Dutchess county, New 
York, in 1772, and when 8 years of age, his father removed to the frontiers of Pennsylvania. 
His father was in indigent circumstances, and Duncan, when of sufficient age, hired out as 
a laborer. At the age of 18 years, he was a volunteer in Harmar’s campaign. In 1792, 
he was a private in the company of Capt. Wm. Enoch, and acted with so much intrepidity 
in the battle of Captina, (see p. 56,) as to render him very popular with the frontier men. 
After this, he was for a while a laborer at some salt-works near Maysville, Ky., and in the 
spring of 1793, engaged as a chain-bearer to Gen. Nathaniel Massie, and penetrated with 
him and others into the Scioto valley to make surveys, at a time when such an enterprize 
was full of danger from the Indians. He was afterwards employed as a spy against the In¬ 
dians on the Ohio, and had some adventures with them, elsewhere detailed in this volume. 
He was again in the employment of Gen. Massie ; and after the treaty of Greenville, studied 
surveying, became an assistant surveyor to Gen. Massie, and aided him to lay out Chilli- 
cothe. He, in the course of this business, became engaged in the purchase and sale of 
lands, by which he acquired great landed wealth. 

In 1805, he was a member of the legislature from Ross, in 1806, elected colonel, and in 
1808, major-general of the state militia. In May, 1812, he was commissioned colonel in 
the Ohio volunteers, afterwards marched to Detroit, and himself and regiment were included 
in Hull’s surrender. He was second in command on this unfortunate expedition ; but such 
was the energy he displayed, that, notwithstanding, after his return as a prisoner of war on 
parole, the democratic party, in the fall of 1812, elected him to congress by an overwhelm¬ 
ing majority. In March, 1813, he was commissioned a brigadier-general in the army, and 
having been regularly exchanged as prisoner of war, soon after resigned his seat in congress 
to engage in active service. 

About the time the enemy were preparing to attack Fort Stephenson, the frontiers were 
in great danger, and Harrison sent an express to M’Arthur to hurry on to the scene of 
action with all the force he could muster. Upon this, he ordered the secowd division to 
march in mass. “ This march of the militia was named the * general call." As soon as 
Governor Meigs was advised of the call made by General M’Arthur, he went forward and 
assumed in person the command of the militia now under arms. General M’Arthur went 
forward to the scene of action, and the militia followed in thousands. So promptly were 
his orders obeyed, that in a few days the Sandusky plains were covered with nearly eight 
thousand men, mostly from Scioto valley. This rush of militia to defend the exposed fron¬ 
tier of our country, bore honorable testimony that the patriotism of the citizens of the Scioto 
valley did not consist of noisy professions, but of practical service in defence of their coun¬ 
try. This general turn-out of the militia proves that General Massie, and the few pioneers 
who followed him into the wilderness, and assisted him in making the first settlements in 
the fertile valley of the Scioto river, had infused their own daring and enterprizing spirit 
into the mass of the community. Among these eight thousand militia were found in the 
ranks, as private soldiers, judges, merchants, lawyers, preachers, doctors, mechanics, farm¬ 
ers, and laborers of every description; all anxious to repulse the ruthless invaders of our 
soil. Indeed, the Scioto country was so stripped of its male population on this occasion, 
that the women, in their absence, were compelled to carry their grain to mill, or let their 
children suffer for want.” These troops having arrived at Upper Sandusky, formed what 
was called the “ grand camp of Ohio militia.” Gen M’Arthur was detailed to the command 
of Fort Meigs. The victory of Perry, on the 10th of September, gave a fresh impetus to 
the army, and Harrison concentrated his troops at Portage river, where, on the 20th, the 
brigade of M’Arthur, from Fort Meigs, joined him. On the 27th, the army embarked in 
boats and crossed over to Malden, and a few days after, Gen. M’Arthur, with the greater 
part of the troops, was charged with the defence of Detroit. 


440 


ROSS COUNTY. 


After the resignation of Harrison, in the spring of 1814, M’Arthur, being the senior briga¬ 
dier general, the command of the N. W. army devolved on him. As the enemy had re¬ 
tired discomfited from the upper end of Lake Erie, and most of the Indians were suing for 
peace, the greater part of the regular troops under his command were ordered to the 
Niagara frontier. M’Arthur had a number of small forts to garrison along the frontier, 
while he kept his main force at Detroit and Malden, to overawe the Canadians and the 
scattering Indians still in the British interest. The dull monotony of going from post to 
post was not the most agreeable service to his energetic mind. He projected an expedition 
into Canada, on which he was absent about a fortnight from Detroit, with 650 troops and 
70 Indians. At or near Malcolm’s mill, the detachment had an action with a force of 
about 500 Canadian militia, in which they defeated them with a loss of 27 killed and 
wounded, and made 111 prisoners; while the American loss was only 1 killed and 6 
wounded. In this excursion, the valuable mills of the enemy, in the vicinity of Grand 
river, were destroyed, and their resources in that quarter essentially impaired. After re¬ 
turning from this successful expedition, the war languished in the northwest. General 
M’Arthur continued in service, and was at Detroit when peace was declared. 

In the fall of 1815, he was again elected to the legislature. In 1816, he was appointed 
commissioner to negotiate a treaty with the Indians at Springwell, near Detroit; he acted 
in the same capacity at the treaty of Fort Meigs, in Sept., 1817, and also at the treaty at 
St. Mary’s, in the succeeding year. In 1817, upon being elected to the legislature, he was 
a competitor with the late Charles Hammond, Esq., for the speaker’s chair, and triumphed 
by a small majority. The next summer, the party strife on the United States’ bank ques¬ 
tion, which had commenced the previous session, was violent. M’Arthur defended the 
right of that institution to place branches wherever it chose in the state, and on this 
issue was again a candidate for the legislature and was defeated. “ A considerable ma¬ 
jority of members elected this year were opposed to the United States bank. Mr. Ham¬ 
mond was again elected a member of the assembly, and by his talents, and readiness in 
wielding his pen, together with his strong and confident maimer of speaking, was able to 
dictate law to this assembly. A law was passed at this session of the legislature, taxing 
each branch of the United States’ bank, located in the state of Ohio, fifty thousand dollars. 
When the time arrived for collecting this tax, the branch banks refused to pay. Mr. Ham¬ 
mond had provided in the law for a case of this kind: the collector was authorized, in case 
the bank refused to pay the tax, to employ armed force, and enter the banking house and 
seize on the money, and this was actually done ; the collector, with an armed force, entered 
the branch bank in the town of Chillicothe and took what money he thought proper. 

“ The bank brought suit in the United States’ circuit court against all the state officers 
concerned in this forcible collection. Mr. Hammond, a distinguished lawyer, with other 
eminent counsel, were employed by the state of Ohio to defend this important cause. The 
district court decided the law of Ohio, levying the tax, unconstitutional, and, of course, null 
and void ; and made a decree, directing the state to refund to the bank the money thus 
forcibly taken. The cause was appealed to the supreme court of the United States. Mr. 
Hammond defended the suit in all its stages. The supreme court decided this cause against 
the state of Ohio. Thus was settled this knotty and vexatious question, which, for a time, 
threatened the peace of the Union.” 

In 1819, M’Arthur was again elected to the legislature. In 1822, he was again chosen 
to congress, and became an undeviating supporter of what w> f then called the American 
system. “ While General M’Arthur remained a member of q lgress, he had considerable 
influence in that body. His persevering industry, his energetic 1 'mind, his sound judgment, 
and practical business habits, rendered him a very efficient member. He would sometimes 
make short, pithy remarks on the business before the house, but made no attempts at those 
flourishes of eloquence which tickle the fancy and please the ear. After having served 
two sessions in congress, he declined a re-election, being determined to devote all his efforts 
to arrange his domestic concerns. He left the field of politics to others, and engaged with 
an unremitted attention to settle his land business.” 

In 1830, M’Arthur was elected governor of Ohio by the anti-Jackson party, and on the 
expiration of his term of office was a candidate for congress, and lost his election, which 
terminated his political career. By an unfortunate accident, in June, 1830, M’Arthur was 
horribly bruised and maimed. From this severe misfortune his bodily and mental powers 
constantly declined, until death, several years after, closed his career. 

Duncan M’Arthur was a strong-minded, energetic man, and possessed an iron will. He 
was an hospitable man, close in business, and had many bitter and severe enemies. His 
life adds another to the many examples of the workings of our free institutions, of one 
rising from obscurity to the highest offices in the gift of a state. 












































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































ROSS COUNTY. 


441 


The preceding biography, with that which follows of General 
Nathaniel Massie, is derived from M’Donald’s sketches. 

Nathaniel Massie was born in Goochland county, Virginia, Dec. 28th, 1763. His 
father, a fanner in easy circumstances, and of plain good sense, educated his sons for the 
practical business of life. In 1780, Nathaniel, then being 17 years of age, was for a short 
time in the revolutionary army. After his return, he studied surveying, and in 1783 left to 
seek his fortunes in Kentucky. He first acted as a surveyor, but soon joined with it the 
locating of lands. “ Young Massie soon became an expert surveyor, and it was a matter 
of astonishment (as he was raised in the dense population east of the mountains) how soon 
he acquired the science and habits of the backwoodsmen. Although he never practised the 
art of hunting, he was admitted by all who knew his qualifications as a woodsman, to be of 
the first order. He could steer his course truly in clear or cloudy weather, and compute 
distances more correctly than most of the old hunters. He could endure fatigue and hun¬ 
ger with more composure than the most of those persons who were inured to want on the 
frontier. He could live upon meat without bread, and bread without meat, and was per¬ 
fectly cheerful and contented with his fare. In all the perilous situations in which he was 
placed, he was always conspicuous for his good feeling and the happy temperament of his 
mind. His courage was of a cool and dispassionate character, which, added to great cir¬ 
cumspection in times of danger, gave him a complete ascendancy over his companions, who 
were always willing to follow when Massie led the way.” 

He also soon became interested with Gen. James Wilkinson in speculations in salt, then 
an article of great scarcity in the west—with what pecuniary success, however, is unknown. 
He was employed as a surveyor by Col. R. C. Anderson, principal surveyor of the Virginia 
military lands, and for a time was engaged in writing in the office of Col. Anderson, who 
had the control of the land warrants, placed in his hands by his brother officers and soldiers. 

“ A very large amount of these, so soon as the act of congress of August, 1790, removed 
all further obstruction, he placed in the hands of Massie, to enter and survey on such terms 
as he could obtain from the holders of them. As the risk of making entries was great, and 
as it was desirable to possess the best land, the owners of warrants, in most cases, made 
liberal contracts with the surveyors. One-fourth, one-third, and sometimes as much as 
one-half acquired by the entry of good lands, were given by the proprietors to the surveyors. 
If the owners preferred paying money, the usual terms were ten pounds, Virginia currency, 
for each thousand acres entered and surveyed, exclusive of chainmen’s expenses. These 
terms cannot appear extravagant, when we consider that at that time the danger encoun¬ 
tered was great, the exposure during the winter severe, and that the price of first-rate land 
in the west was low, and an immense quantity in market. 

“ The locations of land warrants in the Virginia military district between the Scioto and 
the Little Miami, prior to 1790, were made by stealth. Every creek which was explored, 
every line that was run, was at the risk of life from the savage Indians, whose courage and 
perseverance was only equalled by the perseverance of the whites to push forward their 
settlements.” 

In 1791, Massie made the first settlement within the Virginia military district at Man¬ 
chester. (See p. 21.) During the winter of’92-93, he continued to locate and survey the 
best land within a reasonable distance of the station of Manchester. -fc 

“ In the fall of the year 1793, Massie determined to attempt a surveying tour on the 
Scioto river. This, at this time, was a very dangerous undertaking; yet no danger, unless, 
very imminent, could deter him from making the attempt. For that purpose, he employed 
about thirty men, of whom he chose three as assistant surveyors. These were John Beas¬ 
ley, Nathaniel Beasley, and Peter Lee. It was in this expedition Massie employed, for the 
first time, Duncan M’Arthur as a chainman or marker. 

“ In the month of October, some canoes were procured, and Massie and his party set off 
by water. They proceeded up the Ohio to the mouth of the Scioto, thence up the Scioto 
to the mouth of Paint creek. While meandering the Scioto, they made some surveys on 
the bottoms. After reaching the mouth of Paint creek, the surveyors went to work. 
Many surveys were made on the Scioto, as far up as Westfall. Some were made on Main, 
and others on the north fork of Paint creek, and the greatest parts of Ross and Pickaway 
counties in the district were well explored and partly surveyed. Massie finished his in¬ 
tended work without meeting with any disturbance from the Indians. But one Indian was 
seen during the excursion, and to him they gave a hard chase. He, however, escaped. 
The party returned home delighted with the rich country of the Scioto valley, which they 
had explored. 

“ During the winter of 1793-4, Massie, in the midst of the most appalling dangers, ex- 

56 


442 


ROSS COUNTY. 


plored the different branches to their sources, which run into the Little Miami river, and 
thence passed in a northeastern direction to the heads of Paint and Clear creeks, and the 
branches that form those streams. By these expeditions he had formed, from personal ob¬ 
servation, a correct knowledge of the geographical situation of the country composing the 
Virginia military district. 

“ During the winter of 1794-5, Massie prepared a party to enter largely into the survey¬ 
ing business. Nathaniel Beasley, John Beasley, and Peter Lee were again employed as 
the assistant surveyors. The party set off from Manchester, well equipped, to prosecute 
their business, or should occasion offer, give battle to the Indians. They took the route of 
Logan’s trace, and proceeded to a place called the deserted camp, on Tod’s fork of the 
Little Miami. At this point they commenced surveying, and surveyed large portions of 
land on Tod’s fork, and up the Miami to the Chillicothe town, (now in Clark county,) thence 
up Massie’s creek and Caesar’s creek nearly to their heads. By the time the party had pro¬ 
gressed thus far, winter had set in. The ground was covered with a sheet of snow from 
six to ten inches deep. During the tour, which continued upwards of thirty days, the party 
had no bread. For the first two weeks a pint of flour was distributed to each mess once a 
day, to mix with the soup in which meat had been boiled. When night came, four fires 
were made for cooking—that is, one for each mess. Around these fires, till sleeping time 
arrived, the company spent their time in the most social glee, singing songs and telling 
stories. When danger was not apparent or immediate, they were as merry a set of men 
as ever assembled. Resting time arriving, Massie always gave the signal, and the whole 
party would then leave their comfortable fires, carrying with them their blankets, their fire¬ 
arms, and their little baggage, walking in perfect silence two or three hundred yards from 
their fires. They would then scrape away the snow and huddle down together for the 
night. Each mess formed one bed ; they would spread down on the ground one half of 
the blankets, reserving the other half for covering. The covering blankets were fastened 
together by skewers, to prevent them from slipping apart. Thus prepared, the whole party 
crouched down together with their rifles in their arms, and their pouches under their heads 
for pillows ; lying spoon-fashion, with three heads one way and four the other, their feet 
extending to about the middle of their bodies. When one turned the whole mass turned, 
or else the close range would be broken and the cold let in. In this way they lay till broad 
day light, no noise and scarce a whisper being uttered during the night. When it was per¬ 
fectly light, Massie would call up two of the men in whom he had most confidence, and 
send them to reconnoiter and make a circuit around the fires, lest an ambuscade might be 
formed by the Indians to destroy the party as they returned to the fires. This was an in¬ 
variable custom in every variety of weather. Self-preservation required this circumspec¬ 
tion.”' Some time after this, while surveying on Caesar’s creek, his men attacked a party of 
Indians, and they broke and fled. 

After the defeat of the Indians by Wayne, the surveyors were not interrupted by the 
Indians ; but on one of their excursions, still remembered as “ the starving tour,” the whole 
party, consisting of 28 men, suffered extremely in a driving snow-storm for about four days. 
They were in a wilderness, exposed to this severe storm, without hut, tent, or covering, 
and what was still more appalling, without provision and without any road or even track 
to retreat on, and were nearly 100 miles from any place of shelter. On the third day of 
the storm, they luckily killed two wild turkeys, which were boiled and divided into 28 parts, 
and devoured with great avidity, heads, feet, entrails and all. 

In 1796, Massie laid the foundation of the settlement of the Scioto valley, by laying out 
on his own land the now large and beautiful town of Chillicothe. The progress of the 
settlements brought large quantities of his land into market. 

Massie was high in the confidence of St. Clair; and having received the appointment of 
colonel, it was through him that the militia of this region were first organized Colonel 
Massie was an efficient member of the convention which formed the state -constitution. 
He was afterwards elected senator from Ross, and at the first session of the state legisla- 
ture, was chosen speaker. He was elected the first major general of the second division of 
the Ohio militia under the new constitution. 

Gen. Massie was at this time one of the largest landholders in Ohio, and selected a resi¬ 
dence at the falls of Paint creek, in this county, where he had a large body of excellent land 
“In the year 1807, General Massie and Colonel Return J. Meigs were competitors for the 
office of governor of Ohio. They were the most popular men in the state. Col. Meigs 
received a small majority of votes. The election was contested by Massie on the ground 
that Col. Meigs was ineligible by the constitution, in consequence of his absence from the 
state, and had not since his return lived in the state a sufficient length of time to regain his 
citizenship. The contest was carried to the general assembly, who, after hearing the testi- 


ROSS COUNTY, 


443 


mony, decided that« Col. Meigs was ineligible to the office, and that Gen. Massie was duly 
elected governor of the state of Ohio/ Massie, however desirous he might have been to 
hold the office, was too magnanimous to accept it when his competitor had a majority of 
votes. After the decision in his favor he immediately resigned.” 

After this, he, as often as his leisure would permit, represented Ross county in the legis¬ 
lature. He died Nov. 3d, 1813, and was buried on his farm. “ His character was well 
suited for the settlement of a new country ; distinguished as it was by an uncommon de¬ 
gree of energy and activity in the business in which he was engaged. His disposition was 
ever marked with liberality and kindness.” 



Cave of the Scioto Hermit. 


About eleven miles south of Chillicothe, on the road to Portsmouth, 
is the cave of the hermit of the Scioto. When built, many years 
ago, it was in the wilderness, the road having since been laid out by 
it. It is a rude structure, formed by successive layers of stone, 
under a shelving rock, which serves as a back and roof. Over it is 
a monument, bearing the following inscription: 


WILLIAM HEWIT, 

THE HERMIT, 

occupied this cave 14 years , while all 
was wilderness around him. 

He died in 1834, aged 70 years. 


But little is known of the history of the hermit He was, it is 
said, a Virginian, and married early in life into a family of respecta¬ 
bility. Returning one night from a journey, he had occular proof 
of the infidelity of his wife, killed her paramour, and instantly fled to 








444 


ROSS COUNTY. 


the woods, never to return or associate with mankind.* He eventu¬ 
ally settled in the Scioto valley and built this cave, where he passed 
a solitary life, his rifle furnishing him with provisions and clothing, 
which consisted of skins of animals. As the country gradually filled 
up, he became an object of curiosity to the settlers. He was mild 
and inoffensive in his address, avoided companionship with those 
around, and if any allusion was made to his history, evaded the sub¬ 
ject. Occasionally he visited Chillieothe, to exchange the skins of 
his game for ammunition, when his singular appearance attracted 
observation. In person, he was large and muscular ; the whole of 
his dress, from his cap to his moccasons, was of deerskin ; his beard 
was long and unshaven, and his eye wild and piercing. In passing 
from place to place, he walked in the street to avoid encountering 
his fellow men. Many anecdotes are related of him. 

He planted an orchard on government land, which afterwards 
became the property of a settler ; but so sensitive was he in regard 
to the rights of others, that he would not pluck any of the fruit with¬ 
out first asking liberty of the legal owner. While sitting concealed 
in the recesses of the forest, he once observed a teamster deliberately 
cut down and carry off some fine venison he had placed to dry on a 
limb of a tree before his cave. He wit followed, got before him, 
and as he came up, suddenly sprang from behind some bushes beside 
the road, and presenting his rifle to his bosom, with a fierce and de¬ 
termined manner bade him instantly return and replace the venison. 
The man tremblingly obeyed, receiving the admonition, “never 
again to rob the hermit.” A physician riding by, stopped to gratify 
the curiosity of his companions. He found the hermit ill, admin¬ 
istered medicine, visited him often gratuitously during his illness, 
and effected a cure. The hermit ever after evinced the warmest 
gratitude. 

Rainbridge is on Paint creek and the Maysville and Chillieothe 
turnpike, 19 miles sw. from Chillieothe. It was laid out in 1805 by 
Nathaniel Massie, and will become the seat of justice for the pro¬ 
jected county of Massie, in case it i? established. It is surrounded 
by a beautiful country, and contains 2 churches, a fc rge, 1 newspaper 
printing office, 8 stores, and about 80 dwellings. About a mile 
nw. of the town is a small, natural tunnel, about 150 feet in length, 
through which courses a little sparkling rill. Frankfort, on the 
north fork of Paint creek, 11 miles nw. of Chillieothe, and Kingston, 
10 ne. of Chillieothe, are also large and important villages. Bourne- 
ville, 11 miles sw. of Chillieothe, on the above named turnpike, South 
Salem, 16 sw., Richmond, 13 se., and Aldelphi, 17 ne., have each 
from 30 to 60 dwellings. There are other small villages in Ross, 
but none of much note. In the county, in the valley of the Scioto 
and Paint creek, ancient works and mounds are very numerous. 


* From Col. John M’Donald, to whose father this fact was communicated by Hewit. 




SANDUSKY COUNTY, 


445 


SANDUSKY. 


Sandusky was formed from old Indian territory, April 1st, 1820. 
The soil is fertile, and the surface is generally level. The Black 
Swamp covers the western part. Its first settlers were principally 
of New England origin, since which many have moved in from 
Pennsylvania and Germany. The principal productions are Indian 
corn, wheat, oats, potatoes and pork. The following is a list of its 
townships in 1840, with their population. 


Ballville, 

1007 

Rice, 

385 

Townsend, 

692 

Green Creek, 

1186 

Riley, 

426 

Washington, 

1074 

Jackson, 

929 

Sandusky, 

1696 

Woodville, 

486 

Madison, 

316 

Scott, 

684 

York, 

1301 

The population of Sandusky, in 

1830, 

was 2851, and 

in 1840, 


10,182, or 24 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The signification of the name of this county has frequently been a 
matter of dispute. John H. James, Esq., in the American Pioneer, 
truly says: 


I have a note of a conversation with William Walker at Columbus, in 1835-6, at which 
time he was principal chief of the Wyandotts at Upper Sandusky, in which I asked the 
meaning of the word Sandusky. He said it meant “ at the cold water,” and should be 
sounded San-doos-tee. He said it “ carried with it the force of a preposition.” The Upper 
Cold Water and the Lower Cold Water, then, were descriptive Indian names, given long 
before the presence of the trader Sowdowsky. In the vocabulary of Wyandott words, given 
by John Johnston, Esq., formerly Indian agent in Ohio, as printed in Archaeologia Ameri¬ 
cana, vol. i. p. 295, the word water is given Sa, un-dus-tee, and in page 297 he gives the 
name of Sandusky river as Sa, undustee, or water within water pools. 


This region of country was once a favorite residence of the In¬ 
dians. Hon. Lewis Cass, in his discourse before the Historical So¬ 
ciety of Michigan, delivered Sept. 18th, 1829, gives some interesting 
statements respecting a tribe called “ the Neutral Nation .” 

Upon the Sandusky river, and near where the town of Lower Sandusky now stands, lived a 
band of the Wyandotts, called the Neutral Nation. They occupied two villages, which were 
cities of refuge, where those who sought safety never failed to find it. During the long and 
disastrous contests which preceded and followed the arrival of the Europeans, in which the 
Iroquois contended for victory, and their enemies for existence, this little band preserved the 
integrity of their territories and the sacred character of peace makers. All who met upon 
their threshold met as friends, for the ground on which they stood was holy. It was a beau¬ 
tiful institution, a calm and peaceful island looking out upon a world of waves and tempests. 


The annexed is a note from the above. 

This Neutral Nation, so called by Father Seguard, was still in existence two centuries 
ago, when the French missionaries first reached the upper lakes. The details of their his¬ 
tory, and of their character and privileges, are meager and unsatisfactory ; and this is the 
more to be regretted, as such a sanctuary among the barbarous tribes, is not only a singular 
institution, but altogether at variance with that reckless spirit of cruelty with which their 
wars are usually prosecuted. The Wyandott tradition represents them as having separated 
from the parent stock during the bloody wars between their own tribe and the Iroquois, and 
having fled to the Sandusky river for safety. That they here erected two forts, within a 
short distance of each other, and assigned one to the Iroquois and the other to the Wyan¬ 
dotts and their allies, where their war parties might find security and hospitality, whenever 
they entered their country. Why so unusual a proposition was made and acceded to, tra¬ 
dition does not tell. It is probable, however, that superstition lent its aid to the institution, 
and that it may have been indebted for its origin to the feasts and dreams and juggling 


446 


SANDUSKY COUNTY. 


ceremonies which constituted the religion of the aborigines. No other motive was suffi¬ 
ciently powerful to restrain the hand of violence and to counteract the threat of vengeance. 

An intestine feud finally arose in this Neutral Nation, one party espousing the cause of 
the Iroquois and the other of their enemies; and like most civil wars, this was prosecuted 
with relentless fury. Our informant* says that since his recollection, the remains of a red 
cedar post were yet to be seen, where the prisoners were tied previously to being burned. 

Lower Sandusky, the county seat, is 24 miles southwesterly from 
Sandusky City, and 105 west of north from Columbus. The annexed 
engraving shows the town as it appears from a hill northeast of it, 
on the opposite side of the river, near the residence of Mr. Jasper 
Smith, seen in front. On the left, the bridge across the Sandusky 
river partially appears ; and a little to the right of it, Whyler’s hotel. 
On the hill are shown the court house, and the Episcopal, Presbyte¬ 
rian and Catholic churches. 

The town stands at the head of navigation on the Sandusky, at the 
lower rapids, where the Indians had a reservation of two miles square, 
granted to them by the treaty of Greenville. It is said that at an 
early day the French had a trading station at this point. Lower 
Sandusky contains 1 Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, 1 Metho¬ 
dist and 1 Catholic church, 2 newspaper printing offices, 8 grocery 
and 11 dry goods stores, 1 woollen factory, 1 foundery, and had, in 
1840, 1117 inhabitants, and now has near 2000. It is a thriving 
town, and considerable business is carried on. Its commerce is 
increasing. Small steamers and sail vessels constantly ply from 
here. The principal articles of export in 1846, were of wheat 
90,000 bushels, pork 560 barrels, ashes 558 casks, flour 1010 barrels, 
corn 18,400 bushels, staves 1,100,000: imports, 1480 barrels of salt 
and 250 tons of merchandize. 

Immediately opposite Lower Sandusky, on the east bank of the 
river, is the small village of Croghansville, laid out in 1817, which in 
a general description would be included in the former. 

Fort Stephenson, or Sandusky, so gallantly defended by Colonel 
Croghan on the 2d of August, 1813, against an overwhelming force 

* The informant above alluded to by Gov. Cass, we have reason to believe was Major B. 
F. Stickney, of Toledo, long an Indian agent in this region. That there may have been 
such a tradition among the Indians, we are unable to gainsay, but of its truth we have 
doubts. Major Stickney, in a lecture (as yet unpublished) delivered Feb. 28th, 1845, before 
the Young Men’s Association of Toledo, says: 

“ The remains of extensive works of defence are now to be seen near Lower Sandusky. 
The Wyandotts have given me this account of them. At a period of two centuries and a 
half since, or more, all the Indians west of this point were at war with all the Indians east. 
Two walled towns were built near each other, and each was inhabited by those of Wyan- 
dott origin. They assumed a neutral character, and the Indians at war recognized that 
character. They might be called two neutral cities. All of the west might enter the west¬ 
ern city, and all of the east the eastern. The inhabitants of one city might inform those of 
the other, that war parties were there or had been there ; but who they were, or whence 
they came, or any thing more, must not be mentioned. The war parties might remain 
there in security, taking their own time for departure. At the western town they suffered 
the warriors to burn their prisoners near it; but the eastern would not. (An old Wyandott 
informed me, that he recollected seeing, when a boy, the remains of a cedar post or stake, 
at which they used to burn prisoners.) The French historians tell us that these neutral 
cities were inhabited, and their neutral character respected, when they first came here. At 
length a quarrel arose between the two cities, and one destroyed the inhabitants of the other. 
This put an end to all neutrality.” 




SANDUSKY COUNTY. 


447 


of British and Indians, was within the present limits of Lower San¬ 
dusky. Its site is indicated by the flag on the left in the engraving, 
which is about 30 rods southeast of the court house, on high ground, 



Lower Sandusky. 

much elevated above the river. The fort enclosed about an acre of 
ground, and the picketing was in good preservation as late as 1834. 
A private residence now stands within the area. We annex a nar¬ 
ration of the assault on the fort, from a published source. 

Having raised the siege of Camp Meigs, the British sailed round into Sandusky bay, 
while a competent number of their savage allies marched across through the swamps of 
Portage river, to co-operate in a combined attack on Lower Sandusky, expecting, no doubt, 
that General Harrison’s attention would be chiefly directed to Forts Winchester and Meigs. 
The general, however, had calculated on their taking this course, and had been careful to 
keep patroles down the bay, opposite the mouth of Portage, where he supposed their forces 
would debark. 

Several days before the British had invested Fort Meigs, General Harrison, with Major 
Croghan and some other officers, had examined the heights which surround Fort Stephen¬ 
son ; and as the hill on the opposite or southeast side of the river was found to be the 
most commanding eminence, the general had some thoughts of removing the fort to that 
place, and Major Croghan declared his readiness to undertake the work. But the general 
did not authorize him to do it, as he believed that if the enemy intended to invade our 
territory again, they would do it before the removal could be completed. It was then finally 
concluded that the fort, which was calculated for a garrison of only 200 men, could not 
be defended against the heavy artillery of the enemy; and that if the British should ap¬ 
proach it by water, which would cause a presumption that they had brought their heavy 
artillery, the fort must be abandoned and burnt, provided a retreat could be effected with 
safety. In the orders left with Major Croghan, it was stated—“ Should the British troops 
approach you in force with cannon, and you can discover them in time to effect a retreat, 
you will do so immediately, destroying all the public stores.” 

“ You must be aware that the attempt to retreat in the face of an Indian force would 
be vain. Against such an enemy your garrison would be safe, however great the number.” 

On the evening of the 29th, General Harrison received intelligence, by express, from 
General Clay, that the enemy had abandoned the siege of Fort Meigs; and as the Indians 
on that day had swarmed in the woods round his camp, he entertained no doubt but that 
an immediate attack was intended either on Sandusky or Seneca. He therefore imme¬ 
diately called a council of war, consisting of M’Arthur, Cass, Ball, Paul, Wood, Hukill, 
Holmes and Graham, who were unanimously of the opinion that Fort Stephenson was 
untenable against heavy artillery, and that as the enemy could bring with facility any 
quantity of battering cannon against it, by which it must inevitably fall, and as it was an 











418 


SANDUSKY COUNTY. 


unimportant post, containing nothing the loss of which would be felt by us, that the garri¬ 
son should therefore not be reinforced, but withdrawn, and the place destroyed. In pur¬ 
suance of this decision, the general immediately dispatched the order to Major Croghan, 
directing him immediately to abandon Fort Stephenson, to set it on fire and repair with his 



Fort Sandusky and Environs: scale, 200 yards to the inch. 


[References to the Environs. — a —British gun-boats at their place of landing, h —Can¬ 
non, a six-pounder, c —Mortar, d —Batteries, e —Graves of Lieut. Col. Short and Lieut. 
Gordon, who fell in the ditch. /—Road to Upper Sandusky, g —Advance of the enemy 

to the fatal ditch, i —Head of navigation. 

References to the Fort.—Line 1—Pickets. 
Line 2—Embankment from the ditch to and 
against the picket. Line 3 —Dry ditch, nine 
feet wide by six deep. Line 4—Outward 
embankment or glacis. A—Block-house 
first attacked by cannon, b. B—Bastion 
from which the ditch was raked by Crog- 
han’s artillery. C—Guard block-house, in 
the lower left corner. D—Hospital during 
the attack. E E E—Military store-houses. 
F—Commissary’s store-house. G—Maga¬ 
zine. H—Fort gate. K K K—Wicker 
gates. L—Partition gate.] 



command to head quarters—cross the river and come up on the opposite side, and if he 
should find it impracticable to reach the general’s quarters, to take the road to Huron, and 
pursue it with the utmost circumspection and dispatch. This order was sent by Mr. Con¬ 
ner and two Indians, who lost their way in the dark, and did not reach Fort Stephenson 
till 11 o’clock the next day. When Major Croghan received it, he was of opinion that 
he could not then retreat with safety, as the Indians were hovering round the fort in con¬ 
siderable force. He called a council of his officers, a majority of whom coincided with him 
in opinion that a retreat would be unsafe, and that the post could be maintained against the 
enemy, at least till further instructions could be received from head quarters. The major 
therefore immediately returned the following answer: “Sir, I have just received yours of 
yesterday, 10 o’clock, p. m., ordering me to destroy this place and make good my retreat, 
which was received too late to be carried into execution. We have determined to main¬ 
tain this place, and by heavens we can.” In writing this note. Major Croghan had a view 
to the probability of its falling into the hands of the enemy, and on that account made use 
of stronger language than would otherwise have been consistent with propriety. It reached 
the general on the same day, who did not fully understand the circumstances and motives 
under which it had been dictated. The following order was therefore immediately pre- 



















SANDUSKY COUNTY. 449 

pared, and sent with Colonel Wells in the morning, escorted by Colonel Ball, with his 
corps of dragoons. 

“July 30, 1813. 

“ Sir— The general has just received your letter of this date, informing him that you 
had thought proper to disobey the order issued from this office, and delivered to you this 
morning. It appears that the information which dictated the order was incorrect • and as 
you did not receive it in the night, as was expected, it might have been proper that you 
should have reported the circumstance and your situation, before you proceeded to its ex¬ 
ecution. This might have been passed over; but I am directed to say to you, that an offi¬ 
cer who presumes to aver that he has made his resolution, and that he will act in direct 
opposition to the orders of his general, can no longer be entrusted with a separate com¬ 
mand. Colonel Wells is sent to relieve you. You will deliver the command to him, and 
repair with Colonel Ball’s squadron to this place. By command, &c. 

A. H. HOLMES, Assistant Adjutant General .” 

Colonel Wells being left in the command of Fort Stephenson, Major Croghan returned 
with the squadron to head-quarters. He there explained his motives for writing such a 
note, which were deemed satisfactory; and having remained all night with the general, 
who treated him politely, he was permitted to return to his command in the morning, with 
written orders similar to those he had received before. 

A reconnoitering party which had been sent from head-quarters to the shore of the lake, 
about 20 miles distant from Fort Stephenson, discovered the approach of the enemy, by 
water, on the evening of the 31st of July. They returned by the fort after 12 o’clock the 
next day, and had passed it but a few hours, when the enemy made their appearance be¬ 
fore it. The Indians showed themselves first on the hill over the river, and were saluted 
by a six-pounder, the only piece of artillery in the fort, which soon caused them to retire. 
In half an hour the British gun-boats came in sight, and the Indian forces displayed them¬ 
selves in every direction, with a view to intercept the garrison, should a retreat be at¬ 
tempted. The six-pounder was fired a few times at the gun-boats, which was returned by 
the artillery of the enemy. A landing of their troops with a five and a half inch how¬ 
itzer was effected about a mile below the fort; and Major Chambers, accompanied by Dick¬ 
son, was dispatched towards the fort with a flag, and was met on the part of Major Crog¬ 
han by Ensign Shipp, of the 17th regiment. After the usual ceremonies, Major Chambers 
observed to Ensign Shipp, that he was instructed by General Proctor to demand the sur¬ 
render of the fort, as he was anxious to spare the effusion of human blood, which he could 
not do, should he be under the necessity of reducing it, by the powerful force of artillery, 
regulars and Indians under his command. Shipp replied, that the commandant of the fort 
and its garrison were determined to defend it to the last extremity; that no force however 
great could induce them to surrender, as they were resolved to maintain their post, or to 
bury themselves in its ruins. Dickson then said that their immense body of Indians could 
not be restrained from murdering the whole garrison in case of success, of which we have 
no doubt, rejoined Chambers, as we are amply prepared. Dickson then proceeded to re¬ 
mark, that it was a great pity so fine a young man should fall into the hands of the sav¬ 
ages—Sir, for God’s sake, surrender, and prevent the dreadful massacre that will be caused 
by your resistance. Mr. Shipp replied, that when the fort was taken, there would be none 
to massacre. It will not be given up while a man is able to resist. An Indian at this 
moment came out of an adjoining ravine, and advancing to the ensign, took hold of his 
sword and attempted to wrest it from him. Dickson interfered, and having restrained the 
Indian, affected great anxiety to get him safe into the fort. 

The enemy now opened their fire from their six-pounders in the gun-boats and the how¬ 
itzer on shore, which they continued through the night with but little intermission and with 
very little effect. The forces of the enemy consisted of 500 regulars, and about 800 In¬ 
dians commanded by Dickson, the whole being commanded by General Proctor in person. 
Tecumseh was stationed on the road to Fort Meigs with a body of 2000 Indians, expecting 
to intercept a reinforcement oh that route. 

Major Croghan through the evening occasionally fired his six-pounder, at the same time 
changing its place occasionally to induce a belief that he had more than one piece. As it 
produced very little execution on the enemy, and he was desirous of saving his ammuni¬ 
tion, he soon discontinued his fire. The enemy had directed their fire against the north¬ 
western angle of the fort, which induced the commander to believe that an attempt to storm 
his works would be made at that point. In the night, Captain Hunter was directed to 
remove the six-pounder to a block-house, from which it would rake that angle. By great 
industry and personal exertion, Captain Hunter soon accomplished this object in secrecy. 
The embrasure was masked, and the piece loaded with a half charge of powder, and double 

57 


450 


SANDUSKY COUNTY. 


charge of slugs and grape-shot. Early in the morning of the 2d, the enemy opened their 
fire from their howitzer and three six-pounders, which they had landed in the night, and 
planted in a point of woods, about 250 yards from the fort. In the evening, about 4 o’clock, 
they concentrated the fire of all their guns on their northwest angle, which convinced 
Major Croghan that they would endeavor to make a breach and storm the works at that 
point; he therefore immediately had that place strengthened as much as possible with bags 
of flour and sand, which were so effectual that the picketing in that place sustained no 
material injury. Sergeant Weaver, with five or six gentlemen of the Petersburgh volun¬ 
teers and Pittsburgh blues, who happened to be in the fort, was intrusted with the manage¬ 
ment of the six-pounder. 

Late in the evening, when the smoke of the firing had completely enveloped the fort, the 
enemy proceeded to make the assault. Two feints were made towards the southern angle, 
where Captain Hunter’s lines were formed; and at the same time a column of 350 men 
was discovered advancing through the smoke, within 20 paces of the northwestern angle. 
A heavy galling fire of musketry was now opened upon them from the fort, which threw 
them into some confusion. Colonel Short, who headed the principal column, soon rallied 
his men, and led them with great bravery to the brink of the ditch. After a momentary 
pause he leaped into the ditch, calling to his men to follow him, and in a few minutes it 
was full. The masked port-hole was now opened, and the six-pounder, at the distance of 
30 feet, poured such destruction among them that but few who had entered the ditch were 
fortunate enough to escape. A precipitate and confused retreat was the immediate conse¬ 
quence, although some of the officers attempted to rally their men. The other column, 
which was led by Colonel W arburton and Major Chambers, was also routed in confusion 
by a destructive fire from the line commanded by Captain Hunter. The whole of them 
fled into the adjoining wood, beyond the reach of our fire-arms. During the assault, which 
lasted half an hour, the enemy kept up an incessant fire from their howitzer and five six- 
pounders. They left Colonel Short,* a lieutenant and twenty-five privates dead in the 
ditch ; and the total number of prisoners taken was twenty-six, most of them badly 
wounded. Major Muir was knocked down in the ditch, and lay among the dead, till the 
darkness of the night enabled him to escape in safety. The loss of the garrison was one 
killed and seven slightly wounded. The total loss of the enemy could not be less than 150 
killed and wounded. 

When night came on, which was soon after the assault, the wounded in the ditch were 
in a desperate situation. Complete relief could not be brought to them by either side with 
any degree of safety. Major Croghan, however, relieved them as much as possible—he 
contrived to convey them water over the picketing in buckets, and a ditch was opened 
under the pickets, through which those who were able and willing, were encouraged to 
crawl into the fort. All who were able, preferred, of course, to follow their defeated com¬ 
rades, and many others were carried from the vicinity of the fort by the Indians, particu¬ 
larly their own killed and wounded ; and in the night, about 3 o’clock, the whole British 
and Indian force commenced a disorderly retreat. So great was their precipitation that 
they left a sail-boat containing some clothing and a considerable quantity of military stores: 
and on the next day, seventy stand of arms and some braces of pistols were picked up 
around the fort. Their hurry and confusion were caused by the apprehension of an attack 
from General Harrison, of whose position and force they had probably received an exagge¬ 
rated account. 

It was the intention of General Harrison, should the enemy succeed against Fort Ste¬ 
phenson, or should they endeavor to turn his left and fall on Upper Sandusky, to leave his 
camp at Seneca and fall back for the protection of that place. But he discovered by the 
firing on the evening of the 1st, that the enemy had nothing but light artillery, which could 
make no impression on the fort; and he knew that an attempt to storm it without making 
a breach, could be successfully repelled by the garrison; he therefore determined to wait 
for the arrival of 250 mounted volunteers under Colonel Rennick, being the advance of 700 
who were approaching by the way of Upper Sandusky, and then to march against the 
enemy and raise the siege, if their force was not still too great for his. On the 2d, he sent 
several scouts to ascertain their situation and force ; but the woods were so infested with 
Indians, that none of them could proceed sufficiently near the fort to make the necessary 


* “ Col. Short, who commanded the regulars composing the forlorn hope, was ordering 
his men to leap the ditch, cut down the pickets, and give the Americans no quarters, when 
he fell mortally wounded into the ditch, hoisted his white handkerchief on the end of his 
sword, and begged for that mercy which he had a moment before ordered to be denied to 
his enemy.” 




SANDUSKY COUNTY. 


451 


discoveries. In the night the messenger arrived at head-quarters with intelligence that the 
enemy were preparing to retreat. About 9 o’clock, Major Croghan had ascertained from 
their collecting about their boats, that they were preparing to embark, and had immediately 
sent an express to the commander-in-chief with this information. The general now de¬ 
termined to wait no longer for the reinforcements, and immediately set out with the dra¬ 
goons, with which he reached the fort early in the morning, having ordered Generals 
M’Arthur and Cass, who had arrived at Seneca several days before, to follow him with all 
the disposable infantry at that place, and which at this time was about 700 men, after the 
numerous sick, and the force necessary to maintain the position, were left behind. Finding 
that the enemy had fled entirely from the fort, so as not to be reached by him, and learn¬ 
ing that Tecumseh was somewhere in the direction of Fort Meigs, with 2000 warriors, he 
immediately ordered the infantry to fall back to Seneca, lest Tecumseh should make an 
attack on that place, or intercept the small reinforcements advancing from Ohio. 

In his official report of this affair, General Harrison observes that—“ It will not be 
among the least of General Proctor’s mortifications, that he has been baffled by a youth, 
who has just passed his twenty-first year. He is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant 
uncle, Gen. George R. Clarke.” 

Captain Hunter, of the 17th regiment, the second in command, conducted himself with 
great propriety: and never was there a set of finer young fellows than the subalterns, viz.: 
Lieutenants Johnson and Baylor of the 17th, Meeks of the 7th, and Ensigns Shipp and 
Duncan of the 17th. 

Lieutenant Anderson of the 24th, was also noticed for his good conduct. Being without 
a command, he solicited Major Croghan for a musket and a post to fight at, which he did 
with the greatest bravery. 

“ Too much praise,” says Major Croghan, “ cannot be bestowed on the officers, non¬ 
commissioned officers and privates under my command, for their gallantry and good con¬ 
duct during the siege.” 

The brevet rank of lieutenant colonel was immediately conferred on Major Croghan, 
by the president of the United States, for his gallant conduct on this occasion. The ladies 
of Chillicothe also presented him an elegant sword, accompanied by a suitable address. 

We take the above from Dawson’s Life of Harrison, where it is 
quoted from some other source. In defending Gen. Harrison from 
the charges of cowardice and incompetency in not marching to the 
aid of the garrison previous to the attack, Dawson says: 

The conduct of the gallant Croghan and his garrison received from every quarter the 
plaudits of their countrymen. This was what they most richly deserved. There was, 
however, some jealous spirits who took it into their heads to be dissatisfied with the course 
pursued by the commanding general. The order which was given to Colonel Croghan to 
evacuate and destroy the garrison previously to the attack, was loudly condemned, as well 
as the decision of the council of war, to fall back with the troops then at Seneca, to a posi¬ 
tion twelve miles in the rear. Both these measures, it has been said, were determined on 
by the unanimous advice of the council of war. It is not to be presumed that such men 
as composed that board, would have given advice which was in any way derogatory to 
the honor of the American arms. Every individual among them either had, before or 
afterwards, distinguished himself by acts of daring courage and intrepidity. We do not 
profess to be much acquainted with military matters, but the subject appears to us so plain 
as only to require a small portion of common sense perfectly to comprehend it. At the 
time that the determination was made to withdraw the garrison from Sandusky, it must be 
recollected that the general had only with him at Seneca about 400 infantry and 130 or 
140 dragoons. The enemy, as he was informed by General Clay in the letter brought by 
Captain M’Cune, amounted to at least 5,000. With such a disparity of force, would it 
have been proper to have risked an action to preserve the post of Lower Sandusky, which 
of itself was of little or no importance, and which, the garrison being withdrawn, contained 
nothing of any value 1 The posts of Fort Meigs and Upper Sandusky were of the utmost 
importance ; the former was amply provided with the means of defence, and was in no 
danger; but the latter, weak in its defences, and with a feeble garrison, containing many 
thousands of barrels of flour and other provisions, the sole resource of the army for the en¬ 
suing campaign, was to be preserved at any risk. The position at Seneca was not in the 
direct line from Fort Meigs to Upper Sandusky. The enemy, by taking the direct route, 
would certainly reach it before General Harrison, as several hours must have elapsed before 
he could have been informed of their movement, even if it had been discovered the moment 
it had been commenced, a circumstance not very likely to happen. It therefore became 


452 


SANDUSKY COUNTY, 


necessary for the security of Upper Sandusky, that a position better adapted to that pur¬ 
pose should be assumed. There was another and most important reason for this move¬ 
ment: twelve miles in the rear of Seneca, towards Upper Sandusky, the prairie or open 
country commences. The infantry which the commander-in-chief had with him were 
raw recruits ; on the contrary, the squadron of dragoons were well disciplined, and had 
seen much service. In the country about Seneca, this important corps could have been of 
little service: in the open country to the rear, they would have defeated five times their 
number of Indians. It was for these reasons that it was determined by the council of war, 
to change the position of the troops at Seneca. If this movement did take place, the pro¬ 
priety of withdrawing the garrison of Lower Sandusky was obvious. The place was ex¬ 
tremely weak, and in a bad position. It was not intended originally for a fort. Before 
the war it was used as the United States’ Indian factory, and had a small stockade around 
it, merely for the purpose of keeping out drunken Indians. It was, moreover, commanded 
by a hill, within point blank shot, on the opposite side of the river. To those who sup¬ 
pose that General Harrison should have advanced upon the enemy, the moment he dis¬ 
covered that Sandusky was attacked, we must, in the language of the general and field 
officers who were present on the occasion, “ leave them to correct their opinions in the 
school of experience.” General Harrison had been reinforced a day or two before the 
siege of Sandusky, by the 28th regiment, raised in Kentucky. After having received this 
corps, he could not have marched more than 800 effective men without risking his stores, 
and, what was of still more consequence, 150 sick at Seneca, to be taken by the smallest 
party of Indians. The scouts of the army brought information that the Indians were very 
numerous in the direction of Fort Meigs. The general conjectured that a large portion of 
the Indians were then ready to fall on his flank or rear, or the defenceless camp at Seneca, 
should he advance. The information he received from the British prisoners confirmed this 
opinion; a body of 2000 being there under the command of Tecumseh. At the moment 
of which we are speaking, the volunteers of Ohio were rapidly approaching. Now, under 
these circumstances, does any reasonable man believe that General Harrison should have 
advanced with his 800 raw recruits, against a force in front which he knew to be so much 
superior in numbers, and with the probability of having one equally large hanging on his 
flank 1 What would have been thought of his abilities as a general, even if he had been 
successful against General Proctor, (of which, with his small force, there was little proba¬ 
bility,) if in his absence Tecumseh, with his 2000 warriors, had rushed upon Camp Seneca, 
destroyed his stores, tomahawked his sick soldiers, and pursuing his route towards Upper 
Sandusky, defeated the Ohio volunteers, scattered as they were in small bodies, and finally 
ending his career with the destruction of the grand magazine of his army, upon the preserva¬ 
tion of which all his hopes of future success depended ? In all human probability this 
would have been the result, had General Harrison advanced to the relief of Fort Stephen¬ 
son sooner than he did. It was certainly better to risk for a while the defence of that fort 
to the talents and valor of Croghan, and the gallant spirits who were with him, than to 
jeopardize the whole prospects of the campaign. 

About 1^ miles above Lower Sandusky, at the falls of the river, 
is the manufacturing village of Ballsville, containing 1 cotton and 1 
woollen factory, 2 flouring mills, and about 30 dwellings. It was 
about half a mile southwest of this village, that Col. Ball had a skir¬ 
mish with the Indians, a day or two previous to the assault of Fort 
Stephenson. There is, or was a few years since, an oak tree on the 
site of the action, on the road to Columbus, with 17 hacks in it to 
indicate the number of Indians killed on the occasion. We have an 
account of this affair, derived from one of the dragoons present. 

The squadron were moving towards the fort when they were suddenly fired upon by the 
Indians from the west side of the road, whereupon Colonel Ball ordered a charge, and he 
and suite and the right flank being in advance, first came into action. The colonel struck 
the first blow. He dashed in between two savages and cut down the one on the right; the 
other being slightly in the rear, made a blow with a tomahawk at his back, when, by a 
sudden spring of his horse, it fell short, and was buried deep in the cantel and pad of his 
saddle. Before the savage could repeat the blow, he was shot by Corporal Ryan. Lieut. 
Hedges (now General Hedges of Mansfield) following in the rear, mounted on a small 
horse, pursued a large Indian, and just as he had come up to him his stirrup broke, and he 
fell head first off the horse, knocking the Indian down. Both sprang to their feet, when 


BdOTO COUNTY. 


453 


Hedges struck the Indian across his head, and as he was falling, buried his sword up to its 
hilt in his body. At this time, Captain Hopkins was seen on the left in pursuit of a power¬ 
ful savage, when the latter turned and made a blow at the captain with a tomahawk, at 
which his horse sprang to one side. Cornet Hayes then came up and the Indian struck 
at him, his horse in like manner evading the blow. Serjeant Anderson now arriving, the 
Indian was soon dispatched. By this time the skirmish was over, the Indians, who were 
only about 20 in number, being nearly all cut down; and orders were given to retreat to 
the main squadron. Colonel Ball dressed his men ready for a charge, should the Indians 
appear in force, and moved down without further molestation to the fort, where they arrived 
at about 4 p. m. 

Woodville is in the Black swamp, on the Portage river and the 
Western Reserve and Maumee turnpike, 15 w. of Lower Sandusky. 
It was laid out in 1838, by Hon. A. E. Wood, and contains 1 Lu¬ 
theran, 1 Methodist church, 2 stores, 2 tanneries, and 30 dwellings. 
Hamer’s Corners, 8 miles e. of the county seat, has 12 dwellings. 


SCIOTO. 


Scioto was formed May 1st, 1803. The name Scioto was origi¬ 
nally applied by the Wyandots to the river ; they however called it 
Sci , on, to: its signification is unknown.* The surface is generally 
hilly, and some of the hills are several hundred feet in height. The 
river bottoms are well adapted to corn, and on a great part of the 
hill land small grain and grass can be produced. Iron ore, coal, 
and excellent freestone are the principal mineral productions of 
value. The manufacture of iron is extensively carried on in the 
eastern part of the county, where there are six furnaces in opera¬ 
tion, viz.: the Ohio, Junior, Franklin, Clinton, Scioto and Bloom. 
The principal agricultural products are corn, wheat and oats. The 
following is a list of the townships in 1840, with their population : 
Bloom, 913 Jefferson, 578 Union, 570 

Madison, 830 

Morgan, 265 

Nile, 860 

Porter, 1014 

The population of Scioto in 1820, was 5,750; in 1830, 8,730, and 
in 1840, 11,194, or 19 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The mouth of the Scioto was a favorite point with the Indians 
from which to attack boats ascending or descending the Ohio. We 
have several incidents to relate, the first from Marshall’s Kentucky, 
and the last two from M’Donald’s Sketches. 


Brush Creek, 401 
Clay, 696 

Green, 973 

Harrison, 686 


Vernon, 902 

Washington, 653 
Wayne, 1853 


A canoe ascending the Ohio about the last of March, 1790, was taken by the Indians 
near the mouth of Scioto, and three men killed. Within a few days after, a boat coming 
down was decoyed to shore by a white man who feigned distress, when fifty savages 
rose from concealment, ran into the boat, killed John May and a young woman, being 
the first persons they came to, and took the rest of the people on board prisoners. It is 
probable that they owed, according to their ideas of duty, or of honor, these sacrifices to 
the manes of so many of their slaughtered friends. 

While the caprices of fortune, the progression of fate, or the mistaken credulity of Mr. 


* Col. John Johnston. 




454 


SCIOTO COUNTY, 


May, and his imitator, is to be seen in the essay to ensure their safety, by advancing to 
meet these savages, with out-stretched hands as the expression of confidence and the 
pledge of friendship. Mr. May had been an early adventurer and constant visitor to Ken¬ 
tucky. He was no warrior; his object was the acquisition of land—which he had pur¬ 
sued, with equal avidity and success, to a very great extent. Insomuch, that had he lived 
to secure the titles, many of which have been doubtless lost by his death, he would proba¬ 
bly have been the greatest land holder in the country. 

Soon after this event, for the Indians still continued to infest the river, other boats were 
taken, and the people killed or carried away captive. 

The 2d of April they attacked three boats on the Ohio, near the confluence of the Sci¬ 
oto ; two being abandoned fell into the hands of the enemy, who plundered them: the 
other being manned with all the people, made its escape by hard rowing. 

Such a series of aggression at length roused the people of the interior ; and General 
Scott, with two hundred and thirty volunteers, crossed the Ohio at Limestone, and was 
joined by General Harmar with one hundred regulars of the United States—these march 
for the Scioto ; the Indians had, however, abandoned their camp, and there was no gen¬ 
eral action. On the route a small Indian trail was crossed ; thirteen men, with a subal¬ 
tern, were detached upon it—they came upon four Indians in camp, the whole of whom 
were killed by the first fire. 

This spring, 1792, four spies were employed to range from Limestone (now Maysville) 
to the mouth of Big Sandy river. These four were Samuel Davis, Duncan M’Arthur, 
(late governor of Ohio,) Nathaniel Beasley, (late canal commissioner, and major general 
of the militia,) and Samuel M’Dowel. These men, upon every occasion, proved them¬ 
selves worthy of the confidence placed in them by their countrymen. Nothing which 
could reasonably be expected of men, but was done by them. Two and two went to¬ 
gether. They made their tours once a week to the mouth of Big Sandy river. On Mon¬ 
day morning, two of them would leave Limestone, and reach Sandy by Wednesday even¬ 
ing. On Thursday morning, the other two would leave Limestone for the mouth of Sandy. 
Thus they would meet or pass each other about opposite the mouth of Scioto river ; and 
by this constant vigilance, the two sets of spies would pass the mouth of Scioto, in going 
and returning, four times in each week. This incessant vigilance would be continued till 
late in November, or the first of December, when hostilities generally ceased, in the later 
years of the Indian wars. Sometimes the spies would go up and down the Ohio in canoes. 
In such cases one of them would push the canoe, and the other would go on foot, through 
the woods, keeping about a mile in advance of the canoe, the footman keeping a sharp 
look out for ambuscade, or other Indian sign. Upon one of those tours, when Davis and 
M’Arthur were together, going up the river with their canoe, they lay at night a short dis¬ 
tance below the mouth of Scioto. Early the next morning they crossed the Ohio in their 
canoe—landed and went across the bottom to the foot of the hill, where they knew of a 
fine deer-lick. This lick is situated about two miles below Portsmouth, and near Judge 
John Collins’ house. The morning was very calm, and a light fog hung over the bottom. 
When Davis and M’Arthur had proceeded near the lick, M’Arthur halted, and Davis pro¬ 
ceeded, stooping low among the thick brush and weeds, to conceal himself. He moved on 
with the noiseless tread of the cat, till he got near the lick, when he straightened up to 
look if any deer were in it. At that instant he heard the sharp crack from an Indian’s 
rifle, and the singing whistle of a bullet pass his ear. As the morning w r as calm and foggy, 
the smoke from the Indian’s rifle settled around his head, so that the Indian could not see 
whether his shot had taken effect or not. Davis immediately raised his rifle to his face, 
and as the Indian stepped out of the smoke to see the effect of his shot, Davis, before the 
Indian had time to dodge out of the way, fired, and dropped him in his tracks. Davis im¬ 
mediately fell to loading his rifle, not thinking it safe or prudent to run up to an Indian 
with an empty gun. About the time Davis had his gun loaded, M’Arthur came running 
to him. Knowing that the shots he had heard were in too quick succession to be fired by 
the same gun, he made his best speed to the aid of his companion. Just, as M’Arthur had 
stopped at the place where Davis stood, they heard a heavy rush going through the brush, 
when in an instant several Indians made their appearance in the open ground around the 
lick. Davis and M’Arthur were standing in thick brush, and high weeds ; and being un¬ 
perceived by the Indians, crept off as silently as they could, and put off at their best speed 
for their canoe—crossed the Ohio and were out of danger. All the tipie that Davis was 
loading his gun, the Indian he had shot did not move hand or foot, consequently he ever 
after believed he killed the Indian. 

During the summer of 1794, as the packet-boat was on her way up, near the mouth of 
the Scioto, a party of Indians fired into the boat as it was passing near the shore, and one 


SCIOTO COUNTY, 


455 


man, John Stout, was killed, and two brothers by the name of Colvin were severely 
wounded. The boat was hurried by the remainder of the crew into the middle of the 
stream, and then returned to Maysville. The four “ spies” were at Maysville, drawing 
their pay and ammunition, when the packet-boat returned. Notwithstanding the recent 
and bloody defeat sustained in the packet-boat, a fresh crew was immediately procured, 
and the four spies were directed by Col. Henry Lee, (who had the superintendence and di¬ 
rection of them,) to guard the boat as far as the mouth of Big Sandy river. As the spies 
were on their way up the river with the packet-boat, they found concealed and sunk in the 
mouth of a small creek, a short distance below the mouth of the Scioto, a bark canoe, 
large enough to carry seven or eight men. In this canoe a party of Indians had crossed 
the Ohio, and were prowling about somewhere in the country. Samuel M’Dowel was 
sent back to give notice to the inhabitants, while the other three spies remained with the 
packet-boat till they saw it safe past the mouth of Big Sandy river. 

At this place the spies parted from the boat, and commenced their return for Maysville. 
On their way up they had taken a light canoe. Two of them pushed the canoe, while the 
others advanced on foot to reconnoiter. On their return the spies floated down the Ohio 
in their canoe, till they came nearly opposite the mouth of the Scioto river, where they 
landed, and Duncan McArthur, [afterwards Governor of Ohio,] went out into the hills in 
pursuit of game. Treacle and Beasley went about a mile lower down the river and landed 
their canoe, intending also to hunt till McArthur should come up with them. Mc¬ 
Arthur went to a deer lick, with the situation of which he was well acquainted, made 
a blind, behind which he concealed himself, and waited for game. He lay about an hour, 
when he discovered two Indians coming to the lick. The Indians were so near him be¬ 
fore he saw them that it was impossible for him to retreat without being discovered. As 
the boldest course appeared to him to be the safest, he determined to permit them to come 
as near to him as they would, shoot one of them, and try his strength with the other. 
Imagine his situation. Two Indians armed with rifles, tomahawks and scalping-knives, 
approaching in these circumstances, must have caused his heart to beat pit-a-pat. He per¬ 
mitted the Indians, who were walking towards him in a stooping posture, to approach un¬ 
disturbed. When they came near the lick, they halted in an open piece of ground, and 
straightened up to look into the lick for game. This halt enabled McArthur to take de¬ 
liberate aim from a rest, at only fourteen steps distance; he fired, and an Indian fell. 
McArthur remained still a moment, thinking it possible that the other Indian would take 
to flight. In this he was mistaken ; the Indian did not even dodge out of his track when 
his companion sunk lifeless by his side. 

As the Indian’s gun was charged, McArthur concluded it would be rather a fearful job 
to rush upon him, he therefore determined upon a retreat. He broke from his place of 
concealment and ran with all his speed ; he had run but a few steps when he found him¬ 
self tangled in the top of a fallen tree: this caused a momentary halt. At that instant 
the Indian fired, and the ball whistled sharply by him. As the Indian’s gun, as well as his 
own, was now empty, he thought of turning round and giving him a fight upon equal 
terms. At this instant several other Indians came in sight, rushing with savage screams 
through the brush. He fled with his utmost speed, the Indians pursuing and firing at him 
as he ran ; one of their balls entered the bottom of his powder-horn and shivered the side 
of it next hi3 body into pieces. The splinters of his shattered powder-horn were propelled 
with such force by the ball that his side was considerably injured and the blood flowed 
freely. The ball in passing through the horn had given him such a jar that he thought for 
some time it had passed through his side ; but this did not slacken his pace. The Indians 
pursued him some distance. McArthur, though not very fleet, was capable of enduring 
great fatigue, and he now had an occasion which demanded the best exertion of his 
strength. He gained upon his pursuers, and by the time he had crossed two or three ridges 
he found himself free from pursuit, and turned his course to the river. 

When he came to the bank of the Ohio, he discovered Beasley and Treacle in the ca¬ 
noe, paddling up the stream, in order to keep her hovering over the same spot, and to be 
more conspicuous should McArthur make his escape from the Indians. They had heard 
the firing, and the yelling in pursuit, and had no doubt about the cause, and had concluded 
it possible, from the length of time and the direction of the noise that McArthur might 
have effected his escape. Nathaniel Beasley and Thomas Treacle were not the kind of 
men to fly at the approach of danger and forsake a comrade. McArthur saw the canoe, 
and made a signal to them to come ashore. They did so, and McArthur was soon in the 
canoe, in the middle of the stream and out of danger. Thus ended this day’s adventures 
of the spies and their packet-boat, and this was the last attack made by the Indians upon 
a boat in the Ohio river. 


456 


SCIOTO COUNTY. 


It is said that 1J miles below the old mouth of the Scioto, stood, 
about the year 1740, a French fort or trading station. Prior to the 
settlement at Marietta, an attempt at settlement was made at Ports¬ 
mouth, the history of which is annexed from an article in the Amer¬ 
ican Pioneer, by George Corwin, of Portsmouth. 

In April, 1785, four families from the Redstone settlement in Pennsylvania, descended 
the Ohio to the mouth of the Scioto, and there moored their boat under the high bank 
where Portsmouth now stands. They commenced clearing the ground to plant seeds for a 
crop to support their families, hoping that the red men of the forest would suffer them to 
remain and improve the soil. They seemed to hope that white men would no longer pro¬ 
voke the Indians to savage warfare. 

Soon after they landed, the four men, heads of the families, started up the Scioto to see 
the paradise of the West, of which they had heard from the mouths of white men who 
had traversed it during their captivity among the natives. Leaving the little colony, now 
consisting of four women and their children, to the protection of an over-ruling Providence, 
they traversed beautiful bottoms of the Scioto as far up as the prairies above, and opposite 
to where Piketon now stands. One of them, Peter Patrick by name, pleased with the 
country, cut the initials of his name on a beech, near the river, which being found in after 
times, gave the name of Pee Pee to the creek that flows through the prairie of the same 
name ; and from that creek was derived the name of Pee Pee township in Pike county. 

Encamping near the site of Piketon, they were surprised by a party of Indians, who 
killed two of them as they lay by their fires. The other two escaped over the hills to the 
Ohio river, which they struck at the mouth of the Little Scioto, just as some white men 
going down the river in a pirogue were passing. They were going to Port Vincennes, on 
the Wabash. The tale of woe which was told by these men, with entreaties to be taken on 
board, was at first insufficient for their relief. It was not uncommon for Indians to com¬ 
pel white prisoners to act in a similar manner to entice boats to the shore, for murderous 
and marauding purposes. After keeping them some time running down the shore, until 
they believed that if there were an ambuscade of Indians on shore they were out of its 
reach, they took them on board and brought them to the little settlement, the lamentations 
at which cannot be described, nor its feeling conceived, when their peace was broken and 
their hopes blasted by the intelligence of the disaster reaching them. My informant was 
one who came down in the pirogue. 

There was, however, no time to be lost; their safety depended on instant flight—and 
gathering up all their movables, put off to Limestone, now Maysville, as a place of greater 
safety, where the men in the pirogue left them, and as my informant said, never heard of 
them more. 

Thos. M’Donald built the first cabin in the county, but we are ig¬ 
norant of its site or the date of its erection.* Early in the settle¬ 
ment of the country the village of Alexandria was founded at the 
mouth of the Scioto, on the west bank, opposite Portsmouth, which, 
at the formation of the county, was made “ the temporary seat of 
justice and courts ordered to be held at the house of John Collins.” 
Being situated upon low ground liable to inundations, the population 
of this place, once considerable, has now become so small that it 
does not exist as a town, though map-makers do not appear to have 
as yet learned the fact, and will not, perhaps, for years to come. 

The “ French Grant,” a tract of 24,000 acres, is situated in the 
southeastern part of this county. “ It was granted by Congress in 
March, 1795, to a number of French families who lost their lands at 
Gallipolis, by invalid titles. It extended from a point on the Ohio 
river lj miles above, but opposite the mouth of Little Sandy creek 
in Kentucky, and extending eight miles in a direct line down the 
river, and from the two extremities of that line, reaching back at 


* Col. John M’Donald, his brother, is our authority for this assertion. 



MARIETTA, FROM THE VIRGINIA SHORE. 


V 













































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































BENECA COUNTY. 


457 


right angles sufficiently far to include the quantity of land required, 
which somewhat exceeded four and a half miles.” Twelve hun¬ 
dred acres additional were, in 1798, granted, adjoining it towards its 
lower end. Of this tract 4000 acres directly opposite Little Sandy 
creek were granted to Mons. J. G. Gervais, who laid out a town 
upon it which he called Burrsburg, which never had but a few in¬ 
habitants. Thirty years since there were but 8 or 10 French families 
residing on the French Grant, and we doubt if any are now left there. 

Portsmouth, the county seat, is situated on the Ohio river just 
above the mouth of the Scioto, at the termination of the Ohio canal, 
90 miles s. of Columbus, and 110 above Cincinnati by the river. It 
is a town of considerable business, and does a heavy trade with the 
iron works; three steamboats are continually plying between here 
and the iron region in the upper part of this and in Lawrence county, 
and two run regularly between here and Cincinnati. In the town is 
a well conducted free school, which has 9 teachers and 320 pupils. 
It is supported mainly by property bequeathed for this purpose, 
yielding about $2000 per annum. Portsmouth contains 1 Presbyte¬ 
rian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist and 1 Catholic church, 2 printing of¬ 
fices, 1 rolling, 1 merchant and 1 oil mill, 1 carding machine, 1 forge, 
2 founderies, 17 mercantile stores, and a population estimated at 2500. 
A company of eastern capitalists are constructing in the old channel 
of the Scioto, opposite Portsmouth, a commodious basin with dry 
docks attached for the building and repairing of steamboats. 

In the vicinity of Portsmouth, on both sides of the Ohio, are some 
very extensive ancient works which have excited much curiosity. 

Wheelersburg, 9 miles above Portsmouth, on the river, is a flour¬ 
ishing town with from 50 to 70 dwellings. Rockville, Lucasville, 
and Sciotoville, are small places. 


SENECA. 

Seneca was formed from old Indian territory, April 1st, 1820, or¬ 
ganized, April 1st, 1824, and named from the tribe who had a reser¬ 
vation within its limits. The surface is level, and the streams run in 
deep channels. The county is well watered, has considerable water 
power, and the soil is mostly a rich loam. It was settled principally 
from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York, and by some 
few Germans. The principal farm products are wheat, com, grass, 
oats, potatoes and pork. The following is a list of its townships in 
1840, with their population. 


Adams, 

1250 

Hopewell, 

913 

Reed, 

1214 

Big Spring, 

926 

Jackson, 

596 

Scipio, 

1556 

Bloom, 

1168 

Liberty, 

1084 

Seneca, 

1393 

Clinton, 

2197 

London, 

763 

Thompson, 1411 

Eden, 

1472 

Pleasant, 

974 

Venice, 

1222 


The population of Seneca in 1830, was 5157, and in 1840, 18,139, 
or 35 inhabitants to the square mile. 

58 



458 


SENECA COUNTY. 


Fort Seneca, a military post built in the late war, was 9 miles n. of 
the site of Tiffin. It was a stockade with a ditch, and occupied several 
acres on a plain, on the bank of the Sandusky. Some vestiges of 
the work yet remain. It was only a few miles above Fort Stephen¬ 
son, and was occupied by Harrison’s troops at the time of the attack 
on the latter. While here, and just prior to Perry’s victory, Gen. 
Harrison narrowly escaped being murdered by an Indian, the par¬ 
ticulars of which we derive from his memoirs. 

The friendly Indians of the Delaware, Shawanese and Seneca tribes had been invited to 
join him. A number had accepted the invitation, and had reached Seneca before the arri¬ 
val of the Kentucky troops. All the chiefs, and no doubt the greater part of the warriors 
were favorable to the American cause; but before their departure from their towns, a 
wretch had insinuated himself among them, with the intention of assassinating the com¬ 
manding general. He belonged to the Shawanoese tribe, and bore the name of Blue 
Jacket; but was not the celebrated Blue Jacket, who signed the treaty of Greenville with 
Gen. Wayne. He had formerly resided at the town of Wapakoneta ; he had, however, been 
absent for a considerable time, and had returned but a few days before the warriors of that 
town set out to join the American army. He informed the chiefs that he had been hunting 
on the Wabash, and at his request, he was suffered to join the party which were about to 
march to Seneca. Upon their arrival at M’Arthur’s block-house, they halted and en¬ 
camped for the purpose of receiving provisions from the deputy Indian agent, Col. M’Pher- 
son, who resided there. Before their arrival at that place, Blue Jacket had communicated 
to a friend of his, (a Shawanese warrior,) his intention to kill the American general, and 
requested his assistance; this his friend declined, and endeavored to dissuade him from at¬ 
tempting it, assuring him that it could not be done without the certain sacrifice of his own 
life, as he had been at the American camp, and knew that there was always a guard round 
the general’s quarters, who were on duty day and night. Blue Jacket replied, that he was 
determined to execute his intention at any risk, “ that he would kill the general if he was 
sure that his guards would cut him in pieces not bigger than his thumb nail.” 

No people on earth are more faithful in keeping secrets than the Indians, but each war¬ 
rior has a friend from whom he will conceal nothing; luckily for Gen. Harrison, the friend 
of the confidant of Blue Jacket’s was a young Delaware chief named Beaver, who was 
also bound to the general by the ties of friendship. He was the son of a Delaware war 
chief of the same name, who had with others been put to death by his own tribe, on the 
charge of practicing sorcery. Gen. Harrison had been upon terms of friendship with the 
father, and had patronized his orphan boy, at that time ten or twelve years of age. He 
had now arrived to manhood, and was considered among the most promising warriors of 
his tribe: to this young chief the friend of Blue Jacket revealed the fatal secret. The 
Beaver was placed by this communication in an embarrassing situation, for should he dis¬ 
close what he had heard, he betrayed his friend, than which nothing could be more repug¬ 
nant to the feelings and principles of an Indian warrior. Should he not disclose it, con¬ 
sequences equally or even more to be deprecated were likely to ensue. The assassination 
of a friend, the friend of his father, whose life he was bound to defend, or whose death to 
revenge by the same principle of fidelity and honor which forbid the disclosure. 

While he was yet hesitating, Blue Jacket came up to the Delaware camp, somewhat in¬ 
toxicated, vociferating vengeance upon Col. M’Pherson, who had just turned him out of his 
house, and whom he declared he would put to death for the insult he had received. The 
sight of the traitor aroused the indignation and resentment of the Beaver to the highest 
pitch. He seized his tomahawk, and advancing toward the culprit, “ You must be a great 
warrior,” said he, “ you will not only kill this white man for serving you as you deserve, 
but you will also murder our father, the American chief, and bring disgrace and mischief 
upon us all; but you shall do neither, I will serve you as I would a mad dog.” A furious 
blow from the tomahawk of the Beaver stretched the unfortunate Blue Jacket at his feet, 
and a second terminated his existence ; “ There,” said he to some Shawanoese who were 
present, “ take him to the camp of his tribe, and tell them who has done the deed.” 

The Shawanoese were far from resenting it; they applauded the conduct of the Beaver, 
and rejoiced at their happy escape from the ignominy which the accomplishment of Blue 
Jacket’s design would have brought upon them. At the great treaty which was held at 
Greenville in 1815, Gen. Cass, one of the commissioners, related the whole of the transac¬ 
tion to the assembled chiefs, and after thanking the Beaver, in the name of the United 
States, for having saved the life of their general, he caused a handsome present to be made 


SENECA COUNTY. 


459 


him out of the goods which he had sent for the purpose of the treaty. It is impossible to 
say what was the motive of Blue Jacket to attempt the life of Gen. Harrison: he was not 
one of the Tippecanoe Shawanoese, and therefore could have no personal resentment 
against the general. There is little doubt that he came from Malden when he arrived at 
Wapakoneta, and that he came for the express purpose of attempting the life of the gen¬ 
eral ; but whether he was instigated to it by any other person or persons, or had conceived 
the idea himself, has never been ascertained. Upon the arrival of the chiefs at Seneca, 
the principal war chief of the Shawanese requested permission to sleep at the door of the 
general’s marquee, and this he did every night until the embarkation of the troops. This 
man, who had fought with great bravery on our side in the several sorties from Fort Meiers, 
was called Capt. Tommy; he was a great favorite of the officers, particularly the general 
and Commodore Perry, the latter of whom was accustomed to call him the general’s Ma- 
maluke. 

The Senecas of Sandusky—so called—owned and occupied forty 
thousand acres of choice land, on the east side of Sandusky river, 
being mostly in this and partly in Sandusky county. Thirty thou¬ 
sand acres of this land was granted to them on the 29th of Sep¬ 
tember, 1817, at the treaty held at the foot of Maumee Rapids, Hon. 
Lewis Cass and lion. Duncan M’Arthur, being the commissioners 
of the United States. The remaining 10,000 acres, lying south of 
the other, was granted by the treaty at St. Mary’s, concluded by the 
same commissioners on the 17th of September, in the following 
year. By the treaty concluded at Washington city, February 28th, 
1831, James B. Gardiner being the commissioner of the general 
government, these Indians ceded their lands to the United States, 
and agreed to remove southwest of Missouri, on the Neosho river. 

At this time, their principal chiefs were Coonstick, Small Cloud 
Spicer, Seneca Steel, Hard Hickory, Tall Chief and Good Hunter, 
the last two of whom were their principal orators. The old chief 
Good Hunter told Mr. Henry C. Brish, their sub-agent, that this 
band, which numbered about 400 souls, were in fact the remnant of 
Logan’s tribe , (see p. 409,) and says Mr. Brish in a communication 
to us: “I cannot to this day surmise why they were called Senecas. 
I never found a Seneca among them. They were Cayugas,—who 
were Mingoes,—among whom were a few Oneidas, Mohawks, Onon- 
dagoes, Tuscarawas and Wyandots.” 

From Mr. Brish, we have received an interesting narrative of the 
execution for witchcraft of one these Indians, named Seneca John, 
who was one of the best men of his tribe. 

About the year 1825, Coonstick, Steel and Crack’d Hoof, left the reservation for the 
double purpose of a three years hunting and trapping excursion, and to seek a location for a 
new home for the tribe in the far west. 

At the time of their starting, Comstock, the brother of the two first, was the principal 
chief of the tribe. On their return in 1828, richly laden with furs and horses, they found 
Seneca John, their fourth brother, chief, in place of Comstock, who had died during their 
absence. 

Comstock was the favorite brother of the two, and they at once charged Seneca John with 
producing his death by witchcraft. John denied the charge in a strain of eloquence rarely 
equalled. Said he,“ I loved my brother Comstock more than I love the green earth I stand 
upon. I would give up myself, limb by limb, piecemeal by piecemeal,—I would shed my 
blood, drop by drop, to restore him to life.” But all his protestation of innocence and af¬ 
fection for his brother Comstock, were of no avail. His two other brothers pronounced 
him guilty, and declared their determination to be his executioners. 

John replied that he was willing to die, and only wished to live until the next morning, 
** to see the sun rise once more.” This request being granted, John told them that he 


460 


SENECA COUNTY. 


should sleep that night on Hard Hickory’s porch, which fronted the east, where they would 
find him at sunrise. He chose that place because he did not wish to be killed in the pres¬ 
ence of his wife, and desired that the chief, Hard Hickory, should witness that he died like 
a brave man. 

Coonstick and Steel retired for the night to an old cabin near by. In the morning, in 
company with Shane, another Indian, they proceeded to the house of Hard Hickory, who 
was my informant of what there happened. 

He said, a little after sunrise he heard their footsteps upon the porch, and opened the door 
just enough to peep out. He saw John asleep upon his blanket, and they standing around 
him. At length one of them awoke him. He arose upon his feet and took off a large 
handkerchief which was around his head, letting his unusually long hair fall upon his 
shoulders. This being done, he looked around upon the landscape, and at the rising sun, 
to take a farewell look of a scene that he was never again to behold, and then told them 
he was ready to die. 

Shane and Coonstick each took him by the arm, and Steel walked behind. In this way 
they led him about ten steps from the porch, when Steel struck him with a tomahawk on 
the back of his head, and he fell to the ground, bleeding freely. Supposing this blow suffi¬ 
cient to kill him, they dragged him under a peach tree near by. In a short time, however, 
he revived; the blow having been broken by his great mass of hair. Knowing that it was 
Steel who struck the blow, John, as he lay, turned his head towards Coonstick and said, 
“ now brother, do you take your revenge.” This so operated upon the feelings of Coonstick, 
that he interposed to save him ; but it enraged Steel to such a degree, that he drew his 
knife and cut John’s throat from ear to ear, and the next day he was buried with the usual 
Indian ceremonies, not more than twenty feet from where he fell. Steel was arrested and 
tried for the murder in Sandusky county, and acquitted. 

The grave of Seneca John was surrounded by a small picket enclosure. Three years 
after, when I was preparing to move them to the far west, I saw Coonstick and Steel re¬ 
move the picket-fence and level the ground, so that no vestige of the grave remained. 

A writer in the Sidney Aurora, a few years since, gave a narra¬ 
tion of some of the religious rites of this tribe, just prior to their de¬ 
parture for their new homes. We extract his description of their 
sacrificing two dogs to the Great Spirit. 

We rose early and proceeded directly to the council house, and though we supposed we 
were early, the Indians were already in advance of us. 

The first object which arrested our attention, was a pair of the canine species, one of 
each gender suspended on a cross ! one on either side thereof. These animals had been 
recently strangled—not a bone was broken, nor could a distorted hair be seen! They 
were of beautiful cream color, except a few dark spots on one, naturally, which same spots 
were put on the other, artificially, by the devotees. The Indians are very partial in the 
selection of dogs entirely white , for this occasion ; and for which they will give almost any 
price. 

Now for part of the decorations to which I have already alluded, and a description of 
one will suffice for both. 

First—A scarlet ribbon was tastefully tied just above the nose ; and near the eyes an¬ 
other ; next round the neck was a white ribbon, to which was attached some bulbous, 
concealed in another white ribbon; this was placed directly under the right ear, and I 
suppose it was intended as an amulet, or charm. Then ribbons were bound round the 
forelegs, at the knees, and near the feet—these were red and white alternately. Round the 
body was a profuse decoration—then the hind legs were decorated as the fore ones. Thus 
were the victims prepared and thus ornamented for the burnt offering. 

While minutely making this examination, I was almost unconscious of the collection of 
a large number of Indians who were there assembled to offer their sacrifices. 

Adjacent to the cross, was a large fire built on a few logs; and though the snow was 
several inches deep, they had prepared a sufficient quantity of combustible material, re¬ 
moved the snow from the logs, and placed thereon their fire. I have often regretted that I 
did not see them light this pile. My own opinion is, they did not use the fire from their 
council-house ; because I think they would have considered that as common, and as this 
was intended to be a holy service, they, no doubt, for this purpose struck fire from a flint, 
this being deemed sacred.* 


* The Indians, we are informed, on these occasions, kindle their fire by the friction of 
two dry sticks.— H. H. 




SENECA COUNTY. 


461 


It was a clear, beautiful morning, and just as the first rays of the sun were seen in the 
tops of the towering forest, and its reflections from the snowy surface, the Indians simulta¬ 
neously formed a semicircle enclosing the cross, each flank resting on the aforesaid pile of 
logs. 

Good Hunter, who officiated as High Priest, now appeared, and approached the cross ; 
arrayed in his pontifical robes, he looked quite respectable. 

The Indians being all assembled—I say Indians, for there was not a squaw present du¬ 
ring all this ceremony—at a private signal given by the High Priest, two young chiefs 
sprang upon the cross, and each taking off one of the victims, brought it down and pre¬ 
sented it on his arms to the High Priest, who receiving it with great reverence, in like man¬ 
ner advanced to the fire, and with a very grave and solemn air, laid it thereon—and this 
he did with the other—but to which, whether male or female, he gave the preference, I did 
not learn. This done, he retired to the cross. 

In a devout manner, he now commenced an oration. The tone of his voice was audible 
and somewhat chanting. At every pause in his discourse, he took from a white cloth he 
held in his left hand, a portion of dried, odoriferous herbs, which he threw on the fire ; this 
was intended as incense. In the meanwhile his auditory, their eyes on the ground, with 
grave aspect, and in solemn silence, stood motionless, listening attentively to every word 
he uttered. 

Thus he proceeded until the victims were entirely consumed, and the incense exhausted, 
when he concluded his service; the oblation now made, and the wrath of the Great Spirit, 
as they believed, appeased, they again assembled in the council-house, for the purpose of 
performing a part in their festival, different from any I yet had witnessed. Each Indian as 
he entered, seated himself on the floor, thus forming a large circle ; when one of the old 
chiefs rose, and with that native dignity which some Indians possess in a great degree, 
recounted his exploits as a warrior; told in how many fights he had been the victor; the 
number of scalps he had taken from his enemies; and what, at the head of his braves, he 
yet intended to do at the “ Rocky Mountainsaccompanying his narration with energy, 
warmth, and strong gesticulation ; when he ended, he received the unanimous applause of 
the assembled tribe. 

This meed of praise was awarded to the chief by “ three times three,” articulations, 
which were properly neither nasal, oral, nor guttural, but rather abdominal. Thus many 
others in the circle, old and young, rose in order, and proforma, delivered themselves of a 
speech. Among those was Good Hunter ; but he 

“ Had laid his robes away 
His mitre and his vest.” 

His remarks were not filled with such bombast as some others; but brief, modest, and ap¬ 
propriate ; in fine, they were such as became a priest of one of the lost ten tribes of Israel. 

After all had spoken who wished to speak, the floor was cleared, and the dance renewed, 
in which Indian and squaw united, with their wonted hilarity and zeal. 

Just as this dance ended, an Indian boy ran to me, and with fear strongly depicted in 
his countenance, caught me by the arm, and drew me to the door, pointing with his other 
hand towards something he wished me to observe. 

I looked in that direction, and saw the appearance of an Indian running at full speed to 
the council-house ; in an instant he was in the house, and literally in the fire, which he took 
in his hands, and threw fire, coals and hot ashes in various directions, through the house, 
and apparently all over himself! At his entrance, the young Indians, much alarmed, had 
all fled to the further end of the house, where they remained crowded, in great dread of 
this personification of the Evil Spirit! After diverting himself with the fire a few mo¬ 
ments, at the expense of the young ones, to their no small joy he disappeared. This was an 
Indian disguised with a hideous false face, having horns on his head, and his hands and feet 
protected from the effects of the fire. And though not a professed “ Fire King,” he cer¬ 
tainly performed his part to admiration. 

During the continuance of this festival, the hospitality of the Senecas was unbounded. 
In the council-house, and at the residence of Tall Chief, were a number of large fat bucks, 
and fat hogs hanging up, and neatly dressed. Bread also, of both corn and wheat, in great 
abundance. 

Large kettles of soup ready prepared, in which maple sugar, profusely added, made a 
prominent ingredient, thus forming a very agreeable saccharine coalescence. All were invi¬ 
ted, and all were made welcome ; indeed, a refusal to partake of their bounty, was deemed 
disrespectful, if not unfriendly. 

I left them in the afternoon enjoying themselves to the fullest extent; and so far as I 
could perceive, their pleasure was without alloy. They were eating and drinking; but on 


462 


SENECA COUNTY. 


this occasion, no ardent spirits were permitted—dancing and rejoicing—caring, and, pro 
bably, thinking not of to-morrow. 



View in Tiffin. 


Tiffin, the county seat, is a compactly built village, on a level site, 
on the line of the railroad connecting Cincinnati with Sandusky City, 
and on the east bank of Sandusky river. It is 86 miles n. of Colum¬ 
bus and 34 from Sandusky City. It was laid out about the year 
1821, by Josiah Hedges, and named from the Hon. Edward Tiffin, 
of Ross, president of the convention which formed the constitution of 
Ohio, and the first governor of the state of Ohio in 1803. The town 
is gradually increasing with the growth of the county. The view 
was taken in the principal street, and shows on the left the court 
house, and in the distance the spire of a Catholic church. It con¬ 
tains 2 Lutheran, 2 Catholic, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 
Reformed Methodist and 1 German Reformed church, 5 grocery 
and 9 dry goods stores, 1 foundery, 2 newspaper printing offices, 
and had in 1840, 728 inhabitants: it now contains with the suburbs, 
about 1200. 

Opposite Tiffin, on the west bank of the Sandusky, is the small 
village of Fort Ball, so named from a fort erected there in the late 
war, and probably so called from Lieut. Col. James V. Ball, the com¬ 
mander of a squadron of cavalry under Harrison, while at Fort 
Seneca in this county. The fort was a small stockade with a ditch, 
occupying perhaps one-third of an acre. It stood on the bank of 
the river, about fifty rods south of the present bridge, and was used 
principally as a military depot. Vestiges of this work yet remain. 

On the old Indian reservation, in a limestone soil, are two white sulphur springs, re¬ 
spectively 10 and 12 miles from Tiffin, and about 2 apart. The water is clear, and petri¬ 
fies all objects with which it comes in contact. The water furnishes power sufficient for 
two large merchant mills, flows in great quantities, and nearly alike in all seasons. 

In the northeastern corner of the county, in the township of Thompson, is a subterranean 
streams, about 80 feet under ground. The water is pure and cold, runs uniformly, and in 
a northern direction. It is entered by a hole in the top, into which the curious can descend 
on foot, by the aid of a light. 


































SHELBY COUNTY. 


463 


The following is a list of villages and localities in the county with 
their population in 1840. Attica 118, Bascom 34, Bettsville 23, 
Bloomville 13, Caroline 27, Fort Ball 129, Fort Seneca 52, Green 
Spring 29, Lodi 30, Melmore 127, Risdon 39, Rome 80, Republic 
161, Springville 35, Sulphur Spring 29. 

Some of these have since much increased. The most important 
of them now is Republic. This thriving village is in the township 
of Scipio, on the line of the railroad, 9 miles e. of Tiffin. It was laid 
out about 13 years since, and contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Metho¬ 
dist and 1 Universalist church, 1 book, 3 grocery and 9 dry goods 
stores, 1 machine shop for the making of steam engines, 1 clothing 
mill, and about 600 inhabitants. The houses are new and neat, and 
the inhabitants, many of whom are from western New York, have 
among them a flourishing academy, numbering about 100 pupils of 
both sexes. 


SHELBY. 


Shelby was formed from Miami in 1819, and named from Gov. 
Shelby, of Kentucky. The southern half is undulating, rising in 
places along the Miami into hills. The northern portion is flat table 
land, forming part of Loramie’s summit, 378 feet above Lake Erie, 
being the highest elevation in this part of the state. The soil is based 
on clay, with some fine bottom land along the streams. The south¬ 
ern part is best for grain, and the northern for grass. Proper drain¬ 
age and tillage will render it an excellent county for grazing and 
small grain. Its principal crops are corn, grass, oats and wheat. 
The following is a list of the townships in the county in 1840, with 
their population. 


Clinton, 
Cynthian, 
Dinsmoor, 
Franklin, 
Green, 


1496 

1022 

500 

647 

762 


Jackson, 
Loramie, 
M’Lean, 
Orange, 
Perry, 


478 

904 

513 

783 

861 


Salem, 1158 

Turtle Creek, 746 
Van Buren, 596 
Washington, 1688 


The population of Shelby in 1820, was 2142, in 1830, 3671, and 
in 1840, 12,153 ; or 29 inhabitants to the square mile. 

The mouth of Loramie’s creek, in this county, 16 miles nw. of 
Sidney, is a place of historic interest. It was the first point of 
English settlement in Ohio. As early as 1752, there was a trading 
house at that place, called by the English Pickawillany , which was 
attacked and destroyed by the French and Indians that year ; but 
little is known, however, of its history. (See page 7.) 

At the time of the first settlement of Kentucky, a Canadian French¬ 
man, named Loramie, established there a store, or trading station, 
among the Indians. This man was a bitter enemy of the Americans, 
and it was for a long time the head-quarters of mischief towards the 
settlers. 



464 


SHELBY COUNTY. 


The French had the faculty of endearing themselves to the Indians, 
and no doubt Loramie was, in this respect, fully equal to any of his 
countrymen, and gained great influence over them. They formed 
with the natives attachments of the most tender and abiding kind. 
“I have,” says Colonel Johnston, “seen the Indians burst into tears 
when speaking of the time when their French father had dominion 
over them ; and their attachment to this day remains unabated.” 

So much influence had Loramie with the Indians, that when Gen. 
Clarke, from Kentucky, invaded the Miami valley in the autumn of 
1782, his attention was attracted to the spot. He came on and burnt 
the Indian settlement here, and plundered and burnt the store of the 
Frenchman. 

The store contained a large quantity of goods and peltry, which were sold by auction 
afterwards among the men by the general’s orders. Among the soldiers was an Irishman 
named Burke, considered a half-witted fellow, and the general butt of the whole army. 
While searching the store, he found done up in a rag 25 half joes, worth about $200, which 
he secreted in a hole he cut in an old saddle. At the auction no one bid for the saddle, it 
being judged worthless, except Burke, to whom it was struck off for a trifling sum, amid 
roars of laughter for his folly. But a moment elapsed before Burke commenced a search, 
and found and drew forth the money as if by accident; then shaking it in the eyes of the 
men, exclaimed, “ an’ it’s not so bad a bargain after all!” 

Soon after this, Loramie, with a colony of the Shawanoese, emi¬ 
grated to the Spanish territories, west of the Mississippi, and settled 
in a spot assigned them at the junction of the Kanzas and Missouri, 
where the remaining part of the nation from Ohio have at different 
times joined them. 

In 1794, a fort was built at the place occupied by Loramie’s store, 
by Wayne, and named Fort Loramie. The last officer who had 
command here was Capt. Butler, a nephew of Gen. Richard Butler, 
who fell at St. Clair’s defeat. Says Colonel John Johnston : 

His wife and children were with him during his command, A very interesting son of 
his, about eight years old, died at the post. The agonized father and mother were incon¬ 
solable. The grave was enclosed with a very handsome and painted railing, at the foot of 
which honeysuckles were planted, grew luxuriantly, entwined the paling, and finally en¬ 
veloped the whole grave. Nothing could appear more beautiful than this arbor when in 
bloom. 

The peace withdrew Capt. Butler and his troops to other scenes on the Mississippi. I 
never passed the fort without a melancholy thought about the lovely boy who rested there, 
and his parents far away never to behold that cherished spot again. Long after the posts 
had decayed in the ground the vines sustained the palings, and the whole remained perfect 
until the war of 1812, when all was destroyed, and now a bam stands over the spot. 

The site of Loramie’s store was a prominent point in the Green¬ 
ville treaty boundary line. The farm of the heirs of the late James 
Furrow now covers the spot. Col. John Hardin was murdered in 
this county, in 1792, while on a mission of peace to the Indians. The 
town of Hardin has since been laid out on the spot. (See page 240.) 

The first white family who settled in this county was that of James Thatcher, in 1804, 
who settled in the west part on Painter’s run ; Samuel Marshall, John Wilson and John 
Kennard—the last now living—came soon after. The first court was held in a cabin at 
Hardin, May 13th and 14th, 1819. Hon. Joseph H. Crane, of Dayton, was the president 
judge ; Samuel Marshall, Robert Houston and Wm. Cecil, associates; Harvey B. Foot, 
clerk; Daniel V. Dingman, sheriff, and Harvey Brown, of Dayton, prosecutor. The first 


SHELBY COUNTY. 465 


mill was a saw mill, erected in 1808 by Daniel M’Mullen and Bilderbach, on the site of 
Walker’s mill. 



Public Square , Sidney. 


Sidney, the county seat, is 68 miles n. of w. from Columbus, 88 
from Cincinnati, and named from Sir Philip Sydney, “ the great light 
of chivalry.” It was laid out as the county seat in the fall of 1819, 
on the farm of Charles Starrett, under the direction of the court. 

The site is beautiful, being on an elevated table-ground on the west bank of the Miami. 
The only part of the plot then cleared was a corn-field, the first crop having been raised 
there in 1809, by Wm. Stewart. The court removed to Sidney in April, 1820, and held 
its meetings in the log-cabin of Abm. Cannon, on the south side of the field, on the site of 
Matthew Gillespie’s store. During the same year, the first court house, a frame building, 
now Judge Walker’s store, was built, and also the log jail., The first frame house was built 
in 1820, by John Blake, now forming the front of the National hotel. The first post-office 
in the county was established at Hardin in 1819, Col. James Wells, post-master ; but was 
removed the next year to Sidney, where the colonel has continued since to hold the office, 
except during Tyler’s administration. The first brick house was erected on the site of J. F. 
Frazer’s drug store, by Dr. Wm. Fielding. The Methodists erected the first church on the 
ground now occupied by them. Mr. T. Trader had a little store when the town was laid out, 
on the east side of the river, near the lower crossing. The Herald, the first paper in the 
county, was established in 1836, and published by Thos. Smith. A block-house at one time 
stood near the spring. 

In the centre of Sidney is a beautiful public square, on which 
stands the court house. A short distance in a westerly direction, 
passes the Sidney feeder, a navigable branch of the Miami canal. 
The town and suburbs contain 1 Methodist, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Asso¬ 
ciate Reformed, 1 Christian and 1 Catholic church; 1 drug, 2 iron, 
5 hardware and 10 dry goods stores; 2 printing offices, 1 oil, 2 card¬ 
ing and fulling, 3 flouring and 4 saw mills, and in 1840, Sidney had 
713 inhabitants, since which it has increased. 

In Van Buren township is a settlement of colored people, numbering about 400. They 
constitute half the population of the township, and are as prosperous as their white neigh¬ 
bors. Neither are they behind them in religion, morals and intelligence, having churches 
and schools of their own. Their location, however, is not a good one, the land being too 
flat and wet. An attempt was made in July, 1846, to colonize with them 385 of the eman¬ 
cipated slaves of the celebrated John Randolph, of Va., after they were driven from Mercer 

59 













466 


STARK COUNTY. 


county; but a considerable party of whites would not willingly permit it, and they 
were scattered by families among the people of Shelby and Miami who were willing to take 
them. 

Port Jefferson, 5 miles ne. of Sidney, is at the head of the feeder, 
through which the waters of the Miami flow into the Miami canal, 
13 miles distant. It contains 1 Methodist and 1 Baptist church, 3 
stores, and about 50 dwellings. Hardin, 5 miles w. of Sidney; New¬ 
port, 12 w., Berlin, 16 wnw., Houston, 11 wsw., Lockport, 8 s., and 
Palestine, 9 e., are small, and some of them thriving villages. 


STARK. 


Stark was established Feb. 13th, 1808, and organized in January, 
1809. It was named from Gen. John Stark, an officer of the revo¬ 
lution, who was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, in 1728, 
and died in 1822. The surface is generally rolling; the central and 
northeast portions are slightly undulating. The soil is a sandy loam; 
in some parts of the north and east a clay soil predominates. It is 
a rich agricultural county, and produces more wheat, except Wayne, 
than any other in Ohio. It embraces within itself the requisite facili¬ 
ties for making it the seat of various manufactures—mineral coal, 
iron ore, flocks of the choicest sheep, and great water power. Lime¬ 
stone abounds, and inexhaustible beds of lime marl exist. The cul¬ 
tivation of the mulberry and manufacture of silk have been success¬ 
fully commenced. It was settled mainly by Pennsylvania Germans, 
and from Germany and France. The principal agricultural products 
are wheat, com, oats, potatoes, barley, grass, and flax and clover 
seed. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their 
population. 

Bethlehem, 1019 Marlborough, 1670 

Canton, 3298 Nimishillen, 1927 

Jackson, 1546 Osnaburgh, 2333 

Lake, 2162 Paris, 2474 

Lawrence, 2045 Perry, 2210 

Lexington, 1640 Pike, 1409 

The population of Stark in 1820, was 12,406, in 1830, 26,552, and 
in 1840, 34,617 ; or 69 inhabitants to a square mile. 

The first Moravian missionary in Ohio, Mr. Frederick Post, set¬ 
tled in 1761 in what is now Bethlehem township, on the north side 
of the Muskingum, at the junction of its two forks, the Sandy and 
Tuscarawas. The locality called Tuscararatown is on the south 
side of the river, just above Fort Laurens, and immediately con¬ 
tiguous to Bolivar. Just there was the Indian ford, on the line 
of the great Indian trail running west. The site of Post's dwelling, 
or missionary station, is indicated by a pile of stones, which had 
probably formed the back wall of the chimney. The site of the 
garden differs from the woods around it in the total want of heavy 


Plain, 1838 

Sandy, 1265 

Sugar Creek, 1862 
Tuscarawas, 1942 
Washington, 1389 



STARK COUNTY. 


467 


timber. The ruins of a trader’s house, on the opposite side of the 
river, have been mistaken for those of the missionary station. The 
dwelling built by Post must have been the first house erected in Ohio 
by whites, excepting such as may have been built by traders or 
French Jesuits. The Indian and Moravian village of Schoenbrun 
was not commenced until 1772, eleven years later. 

Loskiel’s history of the missions says, in allusion to this mission—“ On the Ohio river, 
where, since the last war, some Indians lived who had been baptized by the brethren, no¬ 
thing could be done up to this time. However, brother Frederick Post lived, though of 
his own choice, about 100 English miles west of Pittsburgh, at Tuscararatown, with a view 
to commence a mission among those Indians. The brethren wished him the blessings of 
the Almighty to his undertaking ; and when he asked for an assistant to help him in his 
outward concerns, and who might, during the same time, learn the language of the Delaware 
Indians, they (the brethren) made it known to the congregation of Bethlehem, whereupon 
the brother John Hecke welder concluded of his own choice to assist him.” 

“We know of Post that he was an active and zealous missionary, but had married an In¬ 
dian squaw, contrary to the wishes and advice of the directory, who had the oversight of 
the Moravian missions, and by that act had forfeited so much of his standing that he would 
not be acknowledged as one of our missionaries in any other manner than under the direc¬ 
tion and guidance of another missionary. Whenever he went farther, and acted on.his own 
accord, he was not opposed, had the good will of the society of which he continued a mem¬ 
ber and its directory, and even their assistance, so far as to make known his wants to the 
congregation, and threw no obstacles in the way if any person felt inclined of his own 
choice to assist him ; but he was not then acknowledged as their missionary, nor entitled to 
any farther or pecuniary assistance.” This wiH explain the above passage in Loskiel. 

“ In HeckeweldePs memoirs, written by himself, and printed in Germany, there is a short 
allusion to the same subject. He says, in substance, that he had in his early youth frequent 
opportunities of seeing Indians, and that gradually he became desirous of becoming useful 
to them ; that already in his 19th year, his desire was in some measure gratified^, as he was 
called upon by government to accompany the brother Frederick Post to the western Indians 
on the Ohio. He then mentions some of the fatigues and dangers of the journey, and that 
he returned in the latter half of the year 1762. In Heckewelder’s narrative of the Indian 
missions of the United Brethren, he gives a more detailed account of this mission. He says, 
in effect, that Frederick Post, who had the preceding year [1761] visited the Indians on the 
Muskingum, thought he would be able to introduce Christianity among them ; that the writer 
of the narrative, by and with the consent of the directors of the society, went with him 
principally to teach the Indian children to read and write. They set out early in March, 
and came to where Post had the preceding year built a house on the bank of the river 
Muskingum, at the distance of about a mile from the Indian village, which lay to the south 
across the river. When they commenced clearing, the Indians ordered them to stop and 
appear before their council the next day, where Post appeared, and was charged with deceit, 
inasmuch as he had informed the Indians his intentions were to teach them the word of 
God, and now he took possession of their lands, &c. Post answered that he wanted no 
more land than sufficient to live from it, as he intended to be no burden to them, &c.; 
whereupon they concluded that he should have 50 steps in every direction, which was step¬ 
ped off by the chief next day. He farther says, that an Indian treaty being to be held at 
Lancaster in the latter part of summer, Post was requested by the governor of Pennsylvania 
to bring some of the western Delawares to it, which he did, leaving Hecke welder, who re¬ 
turned the same fall, in October, from fear of a war, &c. Post probably never returned to 
this station.”* 

Canton, the county seat, is 120 miles ne. of Columbus. It is finely 
situated in the forks of the Nimishillen, a tributary of the Muskingum. 
It was laid out in 1806 by Bezaleel Wells, of Steubenville, and the 
first house erected the same year. Mr. Wells was the original pro- 

* In Zeisberger’s memoirs there is no allusion to this mission, though he and Post were 
frequently associates at an earlier date, and in 1745 were imprisoned together in New 
York as spies. The above article is abridged from papers in the Barr mss., comprising a 
letter from Mr. Thomas Goodman, in which was copied one from Judge Blickensderfer, of 
Dover, who had carefully investigated the subject. 




468 


STARK COUNTY. 


prietor of the town, and died in 1846. The view shows a part of 
the public square, with the court house on the left and the market in 
the centre. It is a very compact town, with many brick dwellings. 



Public Square in Canton. 


A large business is done here in the purchase of flour and wheat, and 
within the vicinity are many flouring mills. Canton contains 1 Ger¬ 
man Reformed, 1 Lutheran, 1 Presbyterian, 2 Catholic and 1 Metho¬ 
dist church; 10 dry goods, 2 book, 2 hardware and 7 grocery stores ; 
2 newspaper offices, 1 gun barrel and 2 woollen factories, 2 iron 
founderies, and about 2000 inhabitants. The Canton female institute 
is a flourishing institution, with near 100 pupils. 



View in Main street, Massillon. 


Massillon is on the Ohio canal and Tuscarawas river, 8 miles from 
Canton and 65 from Cleveland. It was laid out in March, 1826, by 
James Duncan, and named from John Baptiste Massillon, a cele- 






















SUMMIT COUNTY. 


469 


brated French divine, who died in 1742, at the age of 79. The Ohio 
canal was located only a short time before the town was laid out, at 
which period, on its site was a grist mill, a distillery, and a few 
dwellings only. 

The view was taken near the American hotel, shown on the right, 
and within a few rods of the canal, the bridge over which is seen in 
front. The town is compactly built, and is remarkable for its sub¬ 
stantial appearance. It is very thriving, and is one of the greatest 
wheat markets in Ohio. At times, Main street is almost completely 
blocked by immense wagons of wheat, and the place has generally 
the bustling air of business. It lies in the centre of a very rich wheat 
region. The old town of Kendall, laid out about the year 1810 by 
Thomas Roach, joins on the east. Massillon contains 1 German 
Evangelical, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Lutheran, 1 Disciples, 1 
Episcopal Methodist and 1 Catholic church; 2 hardware, 2 whole¬ 
sale grocery and 11 dry goods stores; 6 forwarding houses, 3 foun- 
deries, 3 machine shops, 1 newspaper office, 1 bank, 1 woollen 
factory, and had in 1840, 1420 inhabitants, and now has about 2000. 
“ Just below the town commences a series of extensive plains, spread¬ 
ing over a space of 10 or 12 miles in length from east to west, and 
5 or 6 in breadth. These were covered with a thin growth of oak 
timber, and were denominated barrens , but, on cultivation, they pro¬ 
duce fine crops of wheat. The Tuscarawas has cut across these 
plains on their western end, and runs in a valley sunk about 30 feet 
below their general surface.” 

Waynesburgh, on the Sandy and Beaver canal, 12 miles se. of 
Canton, is a flourishing place, with about 500 inhabitants. Canal 
Fulton, on the Ohio canal, 13 miles from Canton, contains not far 
from GO dwellings, and is a smart business place, where much wheat 
is purchased. Bethlehem, Rochester and Navarre, are three villages 
nearly connected as one, about 10 miles sw. of Canton, on the Ohio 
canal and Tuscarawas river. The three places may contain not far 
from 1000 inhabitants, and have 10 forwarding houses, it being an 
important point for the shipment of wheat. Brookfield, Paris, Osna- 
burg, Harrisburgh, Freedom, Limaville, Minerva, Mapleton, Magno¬ 
lia, Sparta, Berlin, Greentown, Uniontown, Milton and Louisville, 
are small villages. This last named village is almost entirely set¬ 
tled by French. It has been estimated that there are several thou¬ 
sand French in the county from the river Rhine. They form an 
excellent population, and readily assimilate to American customs. 
The French children enter the English schools, while the Germans 
show more attachment to those in their native language. 


SUMMIT. 

Summit was erected from Portage, Medina and Stark, March 3d, 
1840. It derived its name from having the highest land on the line 



470 


6UMMIT COUNTY. 


of the Ohio canal, originally called “ the Portage summit.” Along 
the Cuyahoga it is uneven and hilly ; elsewhere level or undulating. 
In Tallmadge and Springfield are immense beds of bituminous coal, 
from which large quantities are exported and used by the lake 
steamers. In Springfield, large quantities of stone-ware are made, at 
which place fine clay abounds. The soil is fertile and produces 
excellent fruit. The principal productions are wheat, corn, hay, 
oats, cheese, butter, and potatoes and fruit. The following is a list 
of the townships in 1840, with their population. 


Portage, 2382 
Richfield, 1108 
Stow, 1533 

Tallmadge, 2134 
Twinsburgh, 1039 


Bath, '1425 Green, 1536 

Boston, 845 Hudson, 1220 

Copley, 1439 Northampton, 963 

Coventry, 1308 Northfield, 1031 

Franklin, 1436 Norton, 1497 

The population of Summit in 1840, was 22,469, or 45 inhabitants 
to the square mile. 

The old Indian Portage path , between the Cuyahoga and the Tus¬ 
carawas branch of the Muskingum, lies within this county, and was 
part of the ancient boundary between the Six Nations and the 
western Indians. 


It left the Cuyahoga at the village of Old Portage, about three miles north of Akron. It 
went up the hill westward about half a mile to the high ground, where it turned southerly 
and run about parallel with the canal to near the Summit lake ; there took the low ground 
nearly south to the Tuscarawas, which it struck a mile or more above the New Portage. 
The whole length of the path was, by the survey of Moses Warren, in 1797, 8 miles, 4 
chains and 55 links. 

The first settlement made in this county was at Hudson, in the 
year 1800, by Mr. David Hudson, the history of which we derive 
from a series of articles written by Rev. J. Seward, and published 
some 10 or 15 years since in the Hudson Observer. 

In the division of the Western Reserve among the proprietors, the townships of Chester 
and Hudson fell to the lot of Birdsey Norton and David Hudson. 

In the year 1799, Mr. Hudson came out to explore his land, in company with a few 
others. On the way, he fell in with Benj. Tappan, since judge, then travelling to his town 
of Ravenna. They started in his boat from Gerondigut bay, on Lake Ontario, early in 
May, and soon overtook Elias Harmon, since judge, in a boat with his wife, bound to 
Mantua. On arriving at Niagara, they found the river full of ice. They had their boats 
conveyed around the falls, and proceeded on their dangerous way amidst vast bodies of 
floating ice, having some of the men on the shore pulling by ropes until out of danger from 
the current of the Niagara. Arrived at the mouth of the lake, they found it full of floating 
ice as far as the eye could reach, and were compelled to wait several days ere they could 
proceed, which they then did along near the shore. When off Ashtabula county, their 
boats were driven ashore in a storm, and that of Mr. Harmon’s stove in pieces: he pro¬ 
ceeded from thence by land to Mantua. Having purchased, and in a manner repaired Har¬ 
mon’s boat, Mr. Hudson shipped his effects in it, and they arrived at Cleveland on the 8th 
of June. 

Morse’s geography having given them about all the knowledge of the Cuyahoga that they 
possessed, they supposed it capable of sloop navigation to its forks. The season being dry, 
they had proceeded but a few miles when they found it in places only 8 or 10 inches deep, 
and were often obliged to get out, join hands and drag their boats over the shallow places, 
and made but slow progress. After a lapse of several days, they judged they were in the 
latitude of the town of which they were in search. Mr. Hudson went ashore and commenced 
hunting for a surveyor’s line much too far north, and it was not until after six days labo¬ 
rious and painful search that he discovered, towards night, a line which led to the south¬ 
west corner of his township. The succeeding day being very rainy he lodged under an 


SUMMIT COUNTY. 


471 


oak tree, without any covering except the clothes he wore, with the grateful pleasure of 
resting on his own land. In the morning, he returned highly elated to the boats and gave 
information of his success. 

While in Ontario, New York, Tappan bought a yoke of oxen, and Hudson two yoke and 
two cows. These eight cattle they committed to the care of Meacham, a hired man in 
Tappan’s service, who brought them safely on the Indian trail through Buffalo, until they 
found near the lake the west line of the seventh range on the Reserve. This line, it being 
the east line of the towns now named Painsville, Concord, Chardon, Monson, Newburg, 
Auburn, Mantua, Shalersville and Ravenna, they followed due south more than forty miles, 
crossing the Grand and Cuyahoga rivers and striking the Salt spring Indian trail near the 
southeastern corner of Ravenna. They followed this trail westwardly until they came to 
the new line recently made by Hudson and Tappan, which they followed to the spot where 
the boats were lying on the Cuyahoga, in Boston. 

The difficulties encountered by these men in driving this small drove about three hundred 
miles on an obscure, crooked Indian path, and in following town lines through swamps, 
rivers and other obstacles fifty miles farther, almost through an uninhabited wilderness, were 
appalling ; and what rendered their circumstances truly unpleasant, and in some cases 
hazardous, was that they were strangers to the country and without a guide. Their mode 
of travelling was to have several bags of flour and pork, together with two blankets and an 
axe, well secured on the backs of the oxen. They waded fordable streams and compelled 
their cattle to swim those that could not be forded, passing across those streams themselves 
with their provisions on rafts hastily made of sticks. 

Mr. Hudson’s company being thus collected, his first care, after making yokes for his 
oxen, was to open some road to his land. The gullies they crossed were numerous and 
frequent, and often abrupt to an angle of 45 degrees or more. On this road, bad as it was, 
they performed all their transportation in the year ’99, while their oxen were tormented and 
rendered almost unmanageable by immense swarms of large flies, which displayed such 
skill in the science of phlebotomy, that, in a short time, they drew out a large share of the 
blood belonging to these animals: the flies actually killed one of Tappan’s oxen this season. 

After having conveyed their small stock of provisions on to the southwest corner of this 
town and erected a bark hut, Mr. Hudson’s anxiety became very great lest he and his com¬ 
pany should suffer for want of provisions, his stock being very much reduced in consequence 
of the Indians having robbed his boat. Not hearing from Lacey, a man he had left behind 
in western New York to bring on stores, and dreading the consequences of waiting for him 
any longer, Mr. Hudson started to meet him. Taking a boat at Cleveland, which was 
providentially going down the lake, on the 2d of July he found Lacey lying at his ease near 
Cattaraugus. With difficulty he there obtained some provisions, and having a prosperous 
voyage arrived in season, to the joy of those left in the wilderness, who must have been put 
upon short allowance had his arrival been delayed any longer. 

The company being thus furnished with provisions, they built a large log house. Mr. 
Hudson also set his men to work in clearing a piece of land for wheat, and on the 25th of 
July he commenced surveying. The settlement now consisted of 13 persons. In August, 
every person except Mr. Hudson had a turn of being unwell. Several had the fever and 
ague, and in the progress of surveying the town into lots, the party frequently had to wait 
for some one of their number to go through with a paroxysm of ague and then resume their 
labors. 

By the middle of September, they found to their surprise they had only nine days’ pro¬ 
vision on hand ; and as Mr. Hudson had heard nothing from his agent, Norton, at Bloom¬ 
field, New York, he was once more alarmed lest they should suffer for want of food. 

He immediately went to Cleveland and purchased of Lorenzo Carter a small field of corn 
for $50, designing to pound it in mortars and live thereon in case of necessity. He has¬ 
tened back to his station, and having previously heard that Ebenezer Sheldon had made a 
road through the wilderness to Aurora, and that there was a bridle-path thence to Cleve¬ 
land, he thought it probable that he might obtain pork for present necessity from that quar¬ 
ter. He accordingly set out on foot and alone, and regulated his course by the range of 
his shadow, making allowance for change in the time of day. He found the Cleveland 
path near the centre of Aurora, then a dense forest. Thence he proceeded about two and 
a half miles to squire Sheldon’s cabin, and on inquiring found that he could obtain no pro¬ 
visions within a reasonable distance in that direction. The next morning, on his return, 
he found that the boat had arrived with an ample supply of provisions. 

Having completed his surveying on the 11th of October, Mr. Hudson left on the next 
day for Connecticut, to bring out his family, in company with his little son and two men. 
Being disappointed in not finding a good boat at Cleveland, he took the wreck of one he had 


472 


SUMMIT COUNTY. 


purchased of Harmon, and embarked upon the dangerous enterprize of crossing the lake in 
it. It was so leaky that it required one hand most of the time to bail out the w’ater, and so 
weak that it bent considerably in crossing the waves. During their passage, the weather 
was generally cold and boisterous ; three different times they narrowly escaped drowning 
by reason of the darkness of the night or violence of the wind. Being under the necessity 
of lying five days on Chatague point, they lived comfortably during that time on boiled 
chestnuts, in order to lengthen out their small stock of provisions. Arrived at Goshen, 
Conn., Mr. Hudson found his family in health, and by the 1st of January, 1800, was in 
readiness to leave his native state with all its tender associations. “ Thus,” says he “ ends 
the eventful year 1799, filled with many troubles, out of all of which hath the Lord de¬ 
livered me.” 

Having taken an affecting farewell of his friends and acquaintances whom he had left 
behind, Mr. Hudson set out from Goshen in January, with his family and others. They 
tarried at Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York, until spring, making preparations for 
their voyage through the lakes and up the Cuyahoga. They purchased four boats, from 
one to two tons burden, and repaired thoroughly the wreck of Harmon’s boat. Lightly 
loading them with supplies to the value of about two thousand dollars, they completed 
every necessary preparation by the 29th of April. 

“ The next night,” said Mr. Hudson, “ while my dear wife and six children, with all my 
men, lay soundly sleeping around me, I could not close my eyes. The reflection that 
those men and women, wuth most all that I held dear in life, were now to embark in ail 
expedition in which so many chances appeared against me; and should we survive the 
dangers in crossing the boisterous lakes, and the distressing sickness usually attendant on 
new settlements, it was highly probable that we must fall before the tomahawk and scalp¬ 
ing-knife. As I knew at that time no considerable settlement had been made but what 
was established in blood, and as I was about to place all those who lay around me on the 
extreme frontier, and as they would look to me for safety and protection, I almost sunk 
under the immense weight of responsibility resting on me. Perhaps my feelings on this 
occasion were a little similar to those of the patriarch, when expecting to meet his hostile 
brother. But after presenting my case before Israel’s God, and committing all to his care, 
I cheerfully launched out the next morning upon the great deep.” 

The crews of their boats consisted of Samuel Bishop and his four sons, David, Reuben, 
Luman and Joseph, Joel Gaylord, Heman Oviatt, Moses Thompson, Allen Gaylord, Ste¬ 
phen Perkins, Joseph and George Darrow, William M’Kinley, and three men from Ver¬ 
mont, by the names of Derrick, Williams and Shefford. The women in the company 
were the wives of Messrs. Hudson, Bishop and Nobles, with Miss Ruth Gaylord and Miss 
Ruth Bishop. The six children of Mr. Hudson completed the number. 

They had little trouble until they reached the mouth of the Cuyahoga. The wind on 
that day being rather high, Mr. Hudson, in attempting to enter the river with his boat, 
missed the channel and struck on a sand-bar. In this very perilous situation, the boat 
shipped several barrels of water, and himself and all his family must have been drowned had 
not a mountain wave struck the boat with such violence as to float it over the bar. When 
up the river, within about two miles of their landing place, they stopped for the night a 
little north of Northfield, at a locality now known as the Pinery. 

A tremendous rain in the night so raised the river by daybreak, that it overflowed the 
bank whereon they slept, and even their beds were on the point of floating. Every thing 
was completely drenched, and they were compelled to wait five days ere the subsiding 
waters would allow them to force their boats against the current. On the sixth day, May 
the 28th, they reached their landing place, from whence Mr. Hudson, leaving his wife and 
children, hurried to see the people whom he had left over winter, and whom he found well. 

About the time they completed their landing, Elijah Noble arrived with the cattle and 
Mr. Hudson’s horse, which had been driven from Ontario by nearly the same route that the 
cattle were the preceding year. 

Being busy in arranging for them, Mr. Hudson did not take his horse to the river to bring 
up his family for several days. When he arrived, he found his wife, who had cheerfully 
submitted to all the inconveniences hitherto experienced, very much discouraged. She 
and the children suffered severely from the armies of gnats and musketoes which at this 
season of the year infest the woods. After all the persons belonging to the settlement had 
collected, thanksgiving was rendered to the God of mercy, who had protected them in 
perils, preserved their lives and brought them safely to their place of destination. Public 
worship on the Sabbath was resumed, it having been discontinued during the absence of 
Mr. Hudson. “ I felt,” said he, “ in some measure the responsibility resting on first set¬ 
tlers, and their obligations to commence in that fear of God which is the beginning of wis- 


SUMMIT COUNTY. 473 

dom, and to establish those moral and religious habits on which the temporal and eternal 
happiness of a people essentially depends.” 

Mr. David Hudson died March 17th, 1836, aged 75 years, leaving a memory revered, 
and an example of usefulness well worthy of imitation. 

Hudson is 24 miles from Cleveland and 13 northeast of Akron, 
on the stage road from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. It contains 2 Con- 



Western Reserve College. 


gregational, 1 Episcopal and 1 Methodist church, 4 stores, 1 news¬ 
paper printing office, 2 female seminaries, and about 600 inhabitants. 
The village is handsomely situated and neatly built, and the tone of 
society elevated, which arises in a great measure from its being the 
seat of the Western Reserve College. 

The college buildings are of brick, and situated upon a beautiful 
and spacious green, in an order similar to the edifices of Yale, on 
which institution this is also modeled, and of which several of its 
professors are graduates. The annexed view was taken near the 
observatory, a small structure shown on the extreme right. The 
other buildings are, commencing with that nearest—south college, 
middle college, chapel, divinity hall, president’s house, athaeneum, 
and a residence of one of the professors, near the road-side, nearly 
in front of the athenaeum. 

The Medical College at Cleveland is connected with this institu¬ 
tion. By the catalogue of 1846-7, the whole number of professors 
and instructors in the college was 19 ; the whole number of students 
320, viz.: 14 in the theological department; 216 in the medical do.; 
71 undergraduates, and 19 preparatory. 

The Rev. Charles B. Storrs, the first president of the Western Reserve College, was 
the son of the Rev. Richard S. Storrs, of Long Meadow, Mass., and was bom in May, 
1794. He pursued his literary studies at Princeton, and his theological at Andover, after 
which he journeyed at the south with the double object of restoring his health and preach¬ 
ing the gospel in its destitute regions. In 1822, he located himself as a preacher of the 
gospel at Ravenna. In this situation he remained, rapidly advancing in the confidence 
and esteem of the public, until March 2, 1828, when he was unanimously elected professor 
of Christian theology in the Western Reserve College, and was inducted into his office the 
3d of Dec. following. The institution then was in its infancy. Some 15 or 20 students 
had been collected under the care and instruction of a tutor, but no permanent officers had 
been appointed. The government and much of the instruction of the college devolved on 
him. On the 25th of August, 1830, he was unanimously elected president, and inaugu¬ 
rated on the 9th of February, 1831. In this situation he showed himself worthy of the 
confidence reposed in him. Under his mild and paternal, yet firm and decisive adminis¬ 
tration of government, the most perfect discipline prevailed, while all the students loved 

60 








474 


SUMMIT COUNTY. 


and venerated him as a father. Under his auspices, together with the aid of competent 
and faithful professors, the institution arose in public estimation, and increased from a mere 
handful to nearly one hundred students. For many years he had been laboring under a 
bad state of health, and on the 26th of June, 1833, he left the institution to travel for a 
few months for his health. He died on the 15th of September ensuing, at his brother’s 
house in Braintree, Mass. President Storrs was naturally modest and retiring. He pos¬ 
sessed a strong and independent mind, and took an expansive view of every subject that 
occupied his attention. He was a thorough student, and in his method of communicating 
his thoughts to others, peculiarly happy. Though destitute in the pulpit of the tinsel of 
rhetoric, few men could chain an intelligent audience in breathless silence, by pure intel¬ 
lectual vigor and forcible illustration of truth, more perfectly than he. Some of his appeals 
were almost resistless. He exerted a powerful and salutary influence over the church and 
community in this part of the country, and his death was deeply felt.* 



Akron, from the Medina road. 


The large and flourishing town of Akron, the county seat, is on 
the Portage summit of the Ohio canal, at the junction of the Penn¬ 
sylvania canal, 36 miles from Cleveland and 110 northeast of Colum¬ 
bus. The name of this town is derived from a Greek word signify¬ 
ing an elevation. Akron was laid out in 1825, where South Akron 
now is. In the fall of the same year, the Irish laborers on the Ohio 
canal put up about 100 cabins. South Akron grew rapidly for a 
few years; but in 1832, some buildings were put up half a mile 
farther north, and business in a short time centered here. In 1827, 
the Ohio canal was finished from Cleveland to this place. In 1841, 
Akron was made the county seat of the new county of Summit. 
The same year the canal connecting Akron with Beaver, Pa., was 
opened, and a new impetus given to the town by these advantages. 

Akron contains 1 Episcopal, 1 Congregational, 1 Baptist, 1 Meth¬ 
odist,' 1 Disciples, 1 Universalist, 1 German Lutheran, and 1 Catholic 
church, 20 mercantile stores, 10 grocery, 4 drug and 2 book stores, 
4 woollen factories, 2 blast and 3 small furnaces, 1 carding machine 
manufactory, 5 flouring mills, 1 insurance company, 1 bank, 2 news¬ 
paper printing offices, and a great variety of mechanical establish- 


* Abridged from the Hudson Observer of Sept. 28th, 1833. 












SUMMIT COUNTY. 


475 


merits.. The mercantile business of this town is heavy and constantly 
increasing, and immense quantities of wheat are purchased. The 
water privileges here are good, and manufacturing will eventually 
be extensively carried on. In 1827, its population was about 600; 
in 1840, it was 1664, since which it is estimated to have doubled. 
Two miles south of Akron is Summit lake, a beautiful sheet of water 
on the summit of the Ohio canal. Part of its waters find their way 
to the St. Lawrence, and part to the Gulf of Mexico. 

A resident of Akron has given us some facts respecting the settle¬ 
ment of the country, and one or two anecdotes, which we annex. 

In 1811, Paul Williams, Amos and Minor Spicer came from New London, Conn., and 
settled in the vicinity of Akron, at which time there was no other white settlement between 
here and Sandusky. We give an anecdote of Minor Spicer, who is still living at Akron. 
In the late war, one night just before retiring, he heard some one call in front of his house, 
and went out and saw a large Indian with two rifles in his hand, and a deer quartered and 
hung across his horse. Spicer inquired what he wanted. The Indian replied in his own 
dialect, when the other told him he must speak English, or he would unhorse him. He 
finally gave them to understand that he wished to stay over night, a request that was re¬ 
luctantly granted. His rifles were placed in a corner, his venison hung up, and his horse 
put into a large pig-stye, the only stable attached to the premises. 

The Indian cut out a piece of venison for Mrs. Spicer to cook for him, which she did in 
the usual way, with a liberal quantity of pepper and salt. He drew up to the table and eat 
but a mouthful or two. The family being ready to retire, he placed his scalping-knife and 
tomahawk in the corner with his rifles, and stretched himself upon the hearth before the 
fire. When he supposed the family were asleep, he raised himself slowly from his reclining 
position and sat upright on the hearth, looking stealthily over his shoulder to see if all was 
still. He then got upon his feet and stepped lightly across the floor to his implements of 
death. At this juncture, the feelings of Spicer and his wife may be well imagined, for 
they were only feigning sleep and were intently watching. The Indian again stood for a 
moment, to see if he had awakened any one, then slowly drew from its scabbard the glit¬ 
tering scalping-knife. At this moment, Spicer was about putting his hand upon his rifle, 
which stood by his bed, to shoot the Indian, but concluded to wait further demonstration, 
which was an entirely different one from what he had anticipated, for the Indian took hold 
and cut a piece of his venison, weighing about two pounds, and laying it on the live coals 
until it was warmed through, devoured it and went to sleep. Mrs. Spicer’s cooking had 
not pleased him, being seasoned tpo high. The day before, he and his father lost them¬ 
selves in the woods, and after covering his parent, under a log, with his blanket, he had 
wandered until he saw Spicer’s light. 

James Brown, or as he was commonly called, “ Jim Brown,” was one of the early set¬ 
tlers in the north part of the county. He was known throughout the country as the head 
of a notorious band of counterfeiters. Few men have pursued the business so long without 
being convicted. Aside from this, he was to a certain extent respected, for he had the ex¬ 
ternals of a gentleman in his conversation and address, and had many friends. He was a 
fine looking man, over six feet in height, with a keen, penetrating eye. He even held the 
office of justice of the peace when last arrested. He had often been tried before, and as 
often escaped. Once he was sentenced to the penitentiary from Medina, and the sheriff 
had nearly reached Columbus, when he was overtaken with a writ of error and set at lib¬ 
erty. It is said that large numbers of young men have been drawn into his schemes, from 
time to time, and thereby found their way to the penitentiary. Many anecdotes are re¬ 
lated of him. 

He and a brother and one Taylor once supplied themselves with counterfeit paper, and 
proceeded to New Orleans, where they purchased a ship with it and set sail for China, 
intending to make large purchases there with counterfeit notes on the United States bank. 
A discovery, however, was made, and they were apprehended before they had got out of 
the river, and brought back for trial, but he escaped by turning states’ evidence. He escaped 
so often, that it was said he could not be convicted. However, in 1846, he was taken the 
last time, tried at Columbus, and sentenced to the penitentiary for ten years. When first 
arrested, he said, “ Well, boys! now the United States have taken hold of me, I may get 
floored; but I could have worried out a county.” 

Two miles east of Akron, and on both sides of the Little Cuya- 


476 


SUMMIT COUNTY, 


hoga, is the village of Middlebury. As early as 1807, a grist mill 
was built on the site of the town, by Aaron Norton and Joseph 
Hart, which was of great use to the early settlers for many miles 
around. The town was laid out in 1818, by William J. Hart, and 
soon became the most thriving village in this whole region, until the 



canal was cut through to Cleveland, when Akron took away most of 
its trade. It is now improving, has a number of wealthy inhab¬ 
itants, and the manufacturing capital is increasing. It contains 2 
churches, 2 stores, 2 woollen, 3 comb and 1 fire engine factory, 1 
machine, 1 carriage shop, and other mechanical establishments. 
The population is not far from 1000. 

This village is in the township of Tallmadge. The first perma¬ 
nent settlement in Tallmadge was made in the fall of 1807, when 
the Rev. David Bacon, a missionary in the western settlements, 
assisted by Justin E. Frink, erected a log house on the south line, 
half a mile west of the centre north and south road. The first set¬ 
tlers in Tallmadge prior to 1812, were: 

Dr. A. C. Wright, Joseph Hart, Adam Norton, Charles Chittenden, Jonathan Sprague, 
Nathaniel Chapman, Titus, his father, Titus and Porter, and others of his sons, William 
Niel, Joseph Bradford, Ephraim Clark, jr., George Kilbourne, Capt. John Wright, Alpha 
Wright, Eli Hill, Jotham Blakeley, Jotham Blakelee, Conrad Boosinger, Edmund Strong, 
John Wright, jr., Stephen Upson, Theron Bradley, Peter Norton, Elizur Wright, Justus 
Barnes, Shubel H. Lowrey, David, John, Samuel, David, jr., and Lot Preston, Drake Fel¬ 
lows, Samuel M’Coy, Luther Chamberlin, Rial M’Arthur, Justus Bradley, Deacon S., Nor¬ 
man, Hervey, Leander, Cassander, Eleazar and Salmon Sackett, Daniel Beach, John Car- 
ruthers, Reuben Upson and Aza Gillett. 

The village of Cuyahoga Falls is 4 miles northeast of Akron, on 
the line of the Pennsylvania canal and on the Cuyahoga river. Man¬ 
ufacturing is already carried on here to a large extent, and the place 
is perhaps destined to be to the west what Lowell is to the east. 
































RAVINE AT CUYAHOGA FALLS. 


/ 


























































































































































. 






■ 














. 




















































. 


















SUMMIT COUNTY. 


477 


The Cuyahoga has a fall here of more than 200 feet in the distance 
of 2\ miles, across stratified rocks, which are worn away to nearly 
this depth in the course of this descent. In the ravine thus£ormed 



Village of Cuyahoga Falls. 

are a series of wild and picturesque views, one of which is repre¬ 
sented in an engraving on an adjoining page. 

The Indians called Cuyahoga Falls “ Coppacaw,” which signifies 
“shedding tears” A Mr. O., an early settler in this region, was 
once so much cheated in a trade with them, that he shed tears, and 
the Indians ever afterwards called him Coppacaw. 

The village was laid out in 1837, by Birdseye Booth, grew rapidly, 
and in 1840 was the rival of Akron for the county seat. It contains 
1 Episcopal, 1 Wesleyan Methodist and 1 Presbyterian church, 1 
academy, 7 mercantile stores, 1 bank, 1 insurance office, 4 paper, 2 
flouring and 1 saw mill, 2 furnaces, 2 tanneries, 1 fork and scythe, 
and 1 starch factory, 4 warehouses, and about 1200 inhabitants. 

The view was taken from near the Cleveland road, above the vil¬ 
lage, at Stow’s quarry. On the right are seen the Methodist and 
Episcopal churches, in the centre the American House, and on the 
left the Cuyahoga river, the lyceum and Presbyterian church. 

The township of Stow in this county, was named from Joshua 
Stow, Esq., of Middlesex county, Conn. He was a member of the 
first party of surveyors of the Western Reserve, who landed at 
Conneaut, July 4th, 1796. Augustus Porter, Esq., the principal sur¬ 
veyor, in his history of the survey, in the Barr manuscripts, gives the 
following anecdote of Mr. Stow. 

In making the traverse of the lake shore, Mr. Stow acted as flag-man; he of course 
was always in advance of the party: rattlesnakes were plenty, and he coming first upon 
those in our track, killed them. I had mentioned to him a circumstance that happened to 
me in 1789 : being with two or three other persons three days in the wood without food, 
we had killed a rattlesnake, dressed and cooked it, and whether from the savory quality 
of the flesh or the particular state of our stomachs, I could not say which, had eaten it 
with a high relish. Mr. Stow was a healthy, active man, fond of wood-life, and determined 














478 


TRUMBULL COUNTY. 


to adopt all its practices, even to the eating of snakes; and during almost any day while 
on the lake shore, he killed and swung over his shoulders and around his body from two 
to six or eight large rattlesnakes, and at night a part were dressed, cooked and eaten by 
the partVgWith a good relish, probably increased by the circumstance of their being fresh, 
while alTOir other meat was salt. 

Twinsburg, a pleasant village, 17 miles northerly from Akron, on 
the Cleveland road, contains 4 churches and about 40 dwellings. 
The literary institute situated here, under the charge of the Rev. 
Samuel Bissell, is a flourishing institution, having ab'out 150 pupils. 
There are other small villages in the county, some of which are 
thriving places. Among them are Clinton, Tallmadge Centre, Mog- 
adore, Richfield, Ellis Corners and Monroe Falls. 


TRUMBULL. 

Trumbull, named from two successive governors of Connecticut, 
was formed in 1800, and comprised within its original limits the 
whole of the Connecticut Western Reserve. This is a well cultiva¬ 
ted and wealthy county. The surface is mostly level, and the soil 
loamy or sandy. In the northern part is excellent coal. The prin¬ 
cipal products are wheat, corn, oats, grass, wool, butter, cheese and 
potatoes. Mahoning has recently been formed from it and Columbi- 
biana. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, (excepting 
those now forming a part of Mahoning,) with their population at 


that time. 

Bazetta, 1035 Gustavus, 1195 Mecca, 684 

Bloomfield, 554 Hartford, 1121 Mesopotamia, 832 

Braceville, 880 Howland, 1035 Newton, 1456 

Bristol, 802 Hubbard, 1242 Southington, 857 

Brookfield, 1301 Johnston, 889 Vernon, 788 

Champion, 541 Kinsman, 954 Vienna, 969 

Farmington, 1162 Liberty, 1225 Warren, 1996 

Fowler, 931 Lordstown, 1167 Wethersfield, 1447 


Greene, 647 

The population of these townships, including the whole of the 
present Trumbull county, in 1840, was 25,700, or 43 inhabitants to 
the square mile. The population of Trumbull in 1820, was 15,546; 
in 1830, 26,200, and in 1840, 38,070. 

Previous to the settlement of this county, and indeed before the 
survey of the eastern part of the Western Reserve in 1796, salt 
was manufactured by the whites, at what is frequently spoken of as 
the “ old salt works,” which were situated, we are informed, in what 
is now the township of Wethersfield, on or near the Mahoning. 
They were known to the whites as early as 1755, and are indicated 
on Evans’ map published that year. Augustus Porter, Esq., who had 
charge of the first surveying party of the Reserve, thus alludes to 
these works in the Barr mss., in connection with the history of his 
survey. 



TRUMBULL COUNTY. 


479 


These works were said to have been established and occupied by Gen. Parsons, of Con¬ 
necticut, by permission of the governor of that state. At this place we found a small piece 
of open ground, say 2 or 3 acres, and a plank vat of 16 or 18 feet square, and 4 or 5 feet 
deep, set in the ground, which was full of water, and kettles for boiling salt; the number 
we could not ascertain, but the vat seemed to be full of them. An Indian airapa squaw 
were boiling water for salt, but from appearances, with poor success. 

Amzi Atwater, Esq., now of Portage county, who was one of th£ 
first surveying party of the Reserve, in a communication to us, says: 

It was understood that Gen. Parsons had 6ome kind of a grant from the state of Con¬ 
necticut, and came on there and commenced making salt, and was drowned on his return at 
Beaver Falls. On the first map made of the Reserve by Mr. Seth Pease, in 1798, a tract was 
marked off and designated as “ the salt spring tract.” I have understood that the heirs of 
Gen. Parsons advanced some claims to that tract, but I believe without success. At an 
early part of the settlement, considerable exertions were made by Reuben Harmon, Esq., 
to establish salt works at that place, but the water was too weak to make it profitable. 



Public Square, Warren. 

Warren, the county seat, is on the Mahoning river and Ohio and 
Penn, canal, 101 miles ne. of Columbus and 77 from Pittsburgh. 
It is a well-built and very pleasant town, through which beautifully 
winds the Mahoning. In the centre is a handsome public square, 
on which stands the court house. In June, 1846, this village was 
visited by a destructive fire, which destroyed a large number of 
buildings facing one side of the public square, since built up with 
beautiful stores. Warren was laid out in 1801, by Ephraim Quinby, 
Esq., and named from Moses Warren, of Lyme. The town plat 
is one mile square, with streets crossing at right angles. Warren 
contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Baptist, 1 Methodist and 1 
Disciple’s church, about 20 mercantile stores, 3 newspaper printing 
offices, 2 flour mills, 1 bank, 1 woollen factory and a variety of 
mechanical establishments; in 1840, its population was 1066; it is 
now estimated at 1600. 

In a grave-yard on the river’s bank lie the remains of the 
Hon. Zephaniah Swift, author of Swift’s Digest, and once chief 
justice of the State of Connecticut. He died here September 27th, 
1823, at the age of 64 years, while on a visit to a son and daughter. 

We annex some facts connected with the settlement of this place 
and vicinity, from the narrative of Cornelius Feather, in the mss. of 
the Ashtabula Historical Society. 









480 


TRUMBULL COUNTY. 


The plat of Warren in September, 1800, contained but two log cabins, one of which 
was occupied by Capt. Ephraim Quinby, who was proprietor of the town and afterwards 
judge of the court. He built his cabin in 1799. The other was occupied by Wm. Fen¬ 
ton, whc^built his in 1798. On the 27th of this month, Cornelius Feather and Davison 
Fenton ^arrived from Washington county, Pa. At this time, Quinby’s cabin consisted of 
three apartments, a kitchen, bed-room and jail, although but one prisoner was ever con¬ 
fined in it, viz: Perger Shehigh, for threatening the life of Judge Young, ot Youngstown. 

The whole settlements of whites within and about the settlement of Warren, consisted 
of 16 settlers, viz : Henry and John Lane, Benj. Davison, Esq., Meshach Case, Capt. John 
Adgate, Capt. John Leavitt, William Crooks and Phineas Lelfingwell, Henry Lane, jr., 
Charles Daily, Edward Jones, George Loveless and Wm. Tucker, who had been a spy five 
years under Capt. Brady. 

At this time, rattlesnakes abounded in some places. And there was one adventure with 
them worth recording, which took place in Braceville township. 

A Mr. Oviatt was informed that a considerable number of huge rattlesnakes were scat¬ 
tered over a certain tract of wilderness. The old man asked whether there was a ledge 
of rocks in the vicinity, which way the declivity inclined, and if any spring issued out 
of the ledge. Being answered in the affirmative, the old man rejoined, “we will go about 
the last of May and have some sport.” Accordingly they proceeded through the woods well 
armed with cudgels. Arrived at the battle-ground, they cautiously ascended the hill, step 
by step, in a solid column. Suddenly the enemy gave the alarm, and the men found them¬ 
selves completely surrounded by hosts of rattlesnakes of enormous size, and a huge squadron 
of black snakes. No time was lost. At the signal of the rattling of the snakes, the ac¬ 
tion commenced, and hot and furious was the fight. In short, the snakes beat a retreat 
up the hill, our men cudgelling with all their might. When arrived at the top of the ledge, 
they found the ground and rocks in places almost covered with snakes retreating into their 
dens. Afterwards the slain were collected into heaps, and found to amount 486, a good 
portion of which were larger than a man’s leg below the calf, and over 5 feet in length. 

The news of this den of venomous serpents being spread, it was agreed that the narra¬ 
tor and two more young men in Warren, and three in Braceville, should make war upon it, 
until the snakes should be principally destroyed, which was actually accomplished. 

One circumstance I should relate in regard to snake-hunting. Having procured an in¬ 
strument like a very long chisel, with a handle 8 or 9 feet long, I proceeded to the ledge 
alone, placed myself on the body of a butternut tree, lying slanting over a broad crevice 
in the rocks, 7 or 8 feet deep, the bottom of which was literally covered with the yellow 
and black serpents. I held my weapon poised in my right hand, ready to give the deadly 
blow, my left hold of a small branch to keep my balance, when both my feet slipped, and 
I came within a hairs’ breadth of plunging headlong into the den. Nothing but the small 
limb saved me from a most terrible death, as I could not have gotten out, had there been 
no snakes, the rocks on all sides being nearly perpendicular. It was a merciful and provi¬ 
dential escape. 

In August, 1800, a serious affair occurred with the Indians, which 
spread a gloom over the peaceful prospects of the new and scat¬ 
tered settlements of the whites, the history of which we derive 
from the above-mentioned source. 

Joseph M’Mahon, who lived near the Indian settlement at the Salt Springs, and whose 
family had suffered considerable abuse at different times from the Indians in his absence, 
was at work with one Richard Story, on an old Iudian plantation, near Warren. On 
Friday of this week, during his absence, the Indians coming down the creek to have a 
drunken frolic, called in at M’Mahon’s and abused the family, and finally Capt. George, 
their chief, struck one of the children a severe blow with the tomahawk, and the Indians 
threatened to kill the whole family. Mrs. M’Mahon, although terribly alarmed, was un¬ 
able to get word to her husband before noon the next day. 

M’Mahon and Story at first resolved to go immediately to the Indian camp and kill 
the whole tribe, but on a little reflection, they desisted from this rash purpose, and con¬ 
cluded to go to Warren, and consult with Capt. Ephraim Quinby, as he was a mild, judi¬ 
cious man. 

By the advice of Quinby, all the persons capable of bearing arms were mustered on 
Sunday morning, consisting of 14 men and 2 boys, under the command of Lieut. John Lane, 
who proceeded towards the Indian camp, determined to make war or peace as circumstan¬ 
ces dictated. 


TRUMBULL COUNTY. 


481 


When within half a mile of the camp, Quinby proposed a halt, and as he was well ac¬ 
quainted with most of the Indians, they having dealt frequently at his tavern, it was re¬ 
solved that he should proceed alone to the camp, and inquire into the cause of their out¬ 
rageous conduct, and ascertain whether they were for peace or war. Quinby started 
alone, leaving the rest behind, and giving direction to Lane that if he did no&eturn in 
half an hour, he might expect that the savages had killed him, and that he should then 
march his company and engage in battle. Quinby not returning at the appointed time, 
they marched rapidly to the camp. On emerging from the woods they discovered Quinby 
in close conversation with Capt. George. He informed his party that they had threatened to 
kill M’Mahon and his family, and Story and his family, for it seems the latter had inflicted 
chastisement on the Indians for stealing his liquor, particularly on one ugly-looking, ill- 
tempered fellow, named Spotted John, from having his face spotted all over with hair moles. 
Capt. George had also declared, if the whites had come down the Indians were ready to 
fight them. 

The whites marched directly up to the camp, M’Mahon first and Story next to him. 
The chief, Capt. George, snatched his tomahawk which was sticking in a tree, and flour¬ 
ishing it in the air, walked up to M’Mahon, saying, “ if you kill me, I will lie here—if 
I kill you, you shall lie there !” and then ordered his men to prime and tree ! Instantly 
as the tomahawk was about to give the deadly blow, M’Mahon sprang back, raised his gun 
already cocked, pulled the trigger, and Capt. George fell dead. Story took for his mark 
the ugly savage, Spotted John, who was at that moment placing his family behind a tree, 
and shot him dead, the same ball passing through his squaw’s neck, and the shoulders of 
his oldest pappoos, a girl of about thirteen. 

Hereupon the Indians fled with horrid yells ; the whites hotly pursued for some distance, 
firing as fast as possible, yet without effect, while the women and children screamed and 
screeched piteously. The party then gave up the pursuit, returned and buried the dead 
Indians, and proceeded to Warren to consult for their safety. 

It being ascertained that the Indians had taken the route to Sandusky, on Monday 
morning James Hillman was sent through the wilderness to overtake and treat with them. 
He came up with them on Wednesday, and cautiously advanced, they being at first suspi¬ 
cious of him. But making known his mission, he offered them first $100, then $200, and 
so on, to $500, if they would treat with him on just terms, return to their homes and bury 
the hatchet. But to all his overtures they answered, “ No! No! No ! we will go to San¬ 
dusky and hold a council with the chiefs there.” Hillman replied, “ you will hold a council 
there, light the war torch, rally all the warriors throughout the forests, and with savage bar¬ 
barity, come and attempt a general massacre of all your friends, the whites, throughout 
the N. W. Territory.” They rejoined, “ that they would lay the case before the council, 
and within fourteen days, four or five of their number should return with instructions, on 
what terms peace could be restored.”* 

Hillman returned, and all the white settlers from Youngstown and the surrounding set¬ 
tlements, garrisoned at Quinby’s house in Warren, constructed port-holes through the logs 
and kept guard night and day. 

On the fourth or fifth day after the people garrisoned, a circumstance struck them with 
terror. John Lane went out into the woods a little distance, one cloudy day, and missing 
his way gave some alarm. In the evening, a man’s voice known to be his, was heard sev¬ 
eral times, and in the same direction twelve or fourteen successive reports of a gun. It 
was judged that the Indians had returned, caught Lane, confined him and compelled him 
to halloo, with threats of death if he did not, under the hope of enticing the whites into 
an ambush, and massacreing them. 

In the morning, as these noises continued, Wm. Crooks, a resolute man, went out cau¬ 
tiously to the spot whence they proceeded, and found that Lane had dislocated his ancle 
in making a misstep, and could not get into the fort without assistance. 

The little party continued to keep guard until the fourteenth day, when exactly accord¬ 
ing to contract, four or five Indians returned with proposals of peace, which were, that 
M’Mahon and Story should be taken to Sandusky, tried by Indian laws, and if guilty, 
punished by them. This they were told could not be done, as M’Mahon was already a 
prisoner under the laws of the whites, in the jail at Pittsburgh, and Story had fled out of 
the country. 

M’Mahon was brought to Youngstown and tried with prudence. General St. Clair 
chief judge. The only testimony that could be received of all those present at the tragedy. 


* For a more full and perfectly reliable statement of Hillman’s agency in this affair, see 
his memoir, p. 338. 

61 




482 


TRUMBULL COUNTY. 


was a boy who took no part in the affair, who stood close by Capt. George when he said, 
“ If you kill me, I’ll lie here ; if I kill you, you will lie there.” A young married woman 
who had been a prisoner among the Indians, was brought to testify as she understood the 
language. She affirmed that the words signified, that if M’Mahon should kill Captain 
George, the Indians should not seek restitution ; nor should the whites if M’Mahon were 
killed. In regard to the death of Spotted John, the Indians finally claimed nothing, as he 
was an ugly fellow, belonging to no tribe whatever. 

The Indians again took up their old abode, re-buried the bodies of their slain down the 
river two or three miles, drove down a stake at the head of each grave, hung a new pair 
of buckskin breeches on each stake, saying and expecting that “ at the end of thirty days 
they would rise, go to the North Sea, and hunt and kill the white hear.” An old pious 
Indian said, “No! they will not rise at the end of thirty days. When God comes at 
the last day, and calls all the world to rise and come to judgment, then they will rise.” 

The Indians nightly carried good supplies of cooked venison to the graves, which were 
evidently devoured. A white settler’s old slut, with a litter of six or eight pups, nightly 
visited the savory meats, as they throve most wonderfully during the thirty days. 

The Hon. Joshua R. Giddings in a note to the above, says: 

M’Mahon served afterwards in the war of 1812, and in the northwestern army under 
Gen. Harrison. In the battle with the Indians on the Peninsula, north of Sandusky bay, 
on the 29th of September of that year, he was wounded in the side. After his recovery, 
he was discharged in November and started for home. He left Camp Avery, in Huron 
county, and took the path to the old Portage. Being alone and happening to meet a party 
of Indians, he fell a victim to their hostility. 

The Rev. Joseph Badger, the first missionary on the Reserve , re¬ 
sided for eight years at Gustavus, in this county. He was born at 
Wilbraham, Mass., in 1757. He served as a soldier in the revolu¬ 
tionary war, graduated at Yale College in 1785, in 1787 was or¬ 
dained as minister over a church in Blandford, Mass., where he re¬ 
mained for 14 years. 

In 1800, such an opportunity for usefulness offered as he had long wished for. The mis¬ 
sionary societies of the eastern states, had for many years been desirous of sending mis¬ 
sionaries to the Indians which then dwelt in the northern portion of Ohio. 

At their instance, Mr. Badger made a visit to this country during that year, and was so 
well satisfied with the opportunity of usefulness, which his residence among the Wyandots 
and other tribes would afford, that he returned after his family, and since that time his 
labors have been principally divided between the Western Reserve, and the country bor¬ 
dering on the Sandusky and Maumee rivers. Among his papers, the writer finds certifi¬ 
cates of his appointment to the several missionary stations on the Reserve and at Lower 
Sandusky, as also commissions of the post-master’s appointment, for the several places 
where he has from time to time resided. Mr. B’s labors among the scattered inhabitants 
on the Reserve, and the Indians, were arduous and interesting. Many incidents common 
to frontier life are recorded in his journals. His duties as a missionary w r ere all faithfully 
discharged, and he saw this portion of the west grow up under his own eye and teaching. 

In 1812, he was appointed chaplain to the army by Gov. Meigs. He was at Fort Meigs 
during the seige of 1813—and through the war was attached to Gen. Harrison’s com¬ 
mand. He removed from Trumbull county in 1835, to Plain township, Wood county. 

Mr. Badger was a man of energy, perseverance and fine intellectual endowments. Hi 3 
naturally strong and brilliant mind retained all its power, until within the last three years 

of his life. He was a faithful and devoted christain. He ardently loved his fellow men_ 

his God he loved supremely. Few men have ever lived, who have given such an un¬ 
equivocal proof of Christian meekness and submission—few whose labors have more highly 
adorned the great and responsible profession of the ministry. Full of years, and of honors, 
and possessing the paternal affection of a people, who have been long accustomed to re¬ 
gard him as a father, he has at length gone to his final account* He died in 1846, aged 89. 

Newton Falls is 9 miles westerly from Warren, on the Ohio and 
Pennsylvania canal, in the forks of the east and west branches of 
the Mahoning, which unite just below the village. This flourishing 


* From the Perrysburg Miami. 




TUSCARAWAS COUNTY. 


483 


town has sprung into existence within the last 12 years ; it was laid 
out by 1 homas D. Webb, Esq., and Dr. H. A. Dubois. The water 
power is good; it is an important point of shipment on the canal, and 
its inhabitants are enterprising. It contains 1 Congregational, 1 
Methodist, 1 Baptist and 1 Disciples church, 5 mercantile stores, 3 
tor ward mg houses, 1 woollen factory, 1 paper mill, and about 900 
inhabitants. 

Niles, on the Mahoning river and on the canal, 5 miles southerly 
from Warren, contains 3 churches, 3 stores, 1 blast furnace, rolling 
mill and nail factory, 1 forge and grist mill, and about 300 inhabit 
tants. There is some water power here. In the vicinity are large 
quantities of excellent iron ore and coal. In Braceville township 
is a Fourierite association, said to be in a properous condition. 


TUSCARAWAS. 

Tuscarawas was formed from Muskingum, Feb. 15th, 1808. 
The name is that of an Indian tribe, and in one of their dialects, sig¬ 
nifies “ open mouths This is a fertile, well-cultivated county, partly 
level and partly rolling and hilly. Iron ore and coal abound. It 
was first permanently settled about the year 1803, by emigrants 
from western Virginia and Pennsylvania, many of whom were of 
German origin. The principal productions are wheat, oats, corn 
and potatoes. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with 
their population. 


Bucks, 

1547 

Mill, 

1225 

Union, 

945 

Clay, 

864 

Oxford, 

826 

Warren, 

Warwick, 

1173 

Dover, 

2247 

Perry, 

1381 

864 

Fairfield, 

866 

Rush, 

1293 

Washington, 978 

Goshen, 

J885 

Salem, 

1121 

Wayne, 

2142 

Jefferson, 

992 

Sandy, 

1445 

York, 

865 

Lawrence, 1523 
The population 

Sugar Creek, 1450 
of Tuscarawas, in 1820, 

was 8328; 

in 1830, 


14,298 ; and in 1840, 25,632, or 39 inhabitants to the square mile. 

Several years previous to the settlement of Ohip, the Moravians 
had a missionary establishment in the present limits of this county, 
which was for a time broken up by the cruel massacre of ninety-six 
of the Indians at Gnadenhutten, March 8th, 1782. The history of 
the Moravian mission we annex in a communication from James 
Patrick, Esq., of New Philadelphia. 

The first white inhabitants of Tuscarawas county, were the Moravian missionaries and 
their families. The Rev. Frederick Post and Rev. John Heckewelder had penetrated thus 
far into the wilderness previous to the commencement of the revolutionary war. Their 
first visits west of the Ohio date as early as the years 1761 and ’62. Other missionaiy 
auxiliaries were sent out by that society, for the purpose of propagating the Christian reli¬ 
gion among the Indians. Among these was the Rev. David Zeisberger, a man whose 
devotion to the cause was attested by the hardships he endured and the dangers he encoun¬ 
tered. 

Had the same pacific policy which governed the society of Friends in their first settle- 



484 


TUSCARAWAS COUNTY. 


ment of eastern Pennsylvania, been adopted by the white settlers of the west, the efforts 
of the Moravian missionaries in Ohio would have been more successful. But our western 
pioneers were not, either by profession or practice, friends of peace. They had an instinc¬ 
tive hatred to the aborigines, and were only deterred, by their inability, from exterminating 
the race. Perhaps the acts of cruelty practiced by certain Indian tribes on prisoners taken 
in previous contests with the whites, might have aided to produce this feeling on the part of 
the latter. Be that as it may, the effects of this deep-rooted prejudice greatly retarded the 
efforts of the missionaries. 

They had three stations on the river Tuscarawas, or rather three Indian villages, viz.: 
Shoenbrun, Gnadenhutten and Salem. The site of the first is about two miles south of 
New Philadelphia ; seven miles farther south was Gnadenhutten, in the immediate vicinity 
of the present village of that name ; and about five miles below that was Salem, a short 
distance from the village of Port Washington. The first and last mentioned were on the 
west side of the Tuscarawas, now near the margin of the Ohio canal. Gnadenhutten is 
on the east side of tlrb river. It was here that a massacre took place on the 8th of March, 
1782, which, for cool barbarity, is perhaps unequalled in the history of the Indian wars. 

The Moravian villages on the Tuscarawas were situated about mid-way between the 
white settlements near the Ohio, and some warlike tribes of Wyandots and Delawares on 
the Sandusky. These latter were chiefly in the service of England, or at least opposed to 
the colonists, with whom she was then at war. ' There was a British station at Detroit, and 
an American one at Fort Pitt, (Pittsburgh,) which were regarded as the nucleus of western 
operations by each of the contending parties. The Moravian villages of friendly Indians 
on the Tuscarawas were situated, as the saying is, between two fires. As Christian con¬ 
verts and friends of peace, both policy and inclination led them to adopt neutral grounds. 
With much difficulty they sustained this position, partially unmolested, until the autumn of 
1781. In the month of August, in that year, an English officer named Elliott, from De¬ 
troit, attended by two Delaware chiefs, Pimoacan and Pipe, with three hundred warriors, 
visited Gnadenhutten. They urged the necessity of the speedy removal of the Christian 
Indians further west, as a measure of safety. Seeing the latter were not inclined to take 
their advice, they resorted to threats, and in some instances to violence. They at last 
succeededjn their object. The Christian Indians were forced to leave their crops of corn, 
potatoes’Snd garden vegetables, and remove, with their unwelcome visitors, to the country 
bordering on the Sandusky. The missionaries were taken prisoners to Detroit. After suf¬ 
fering severely from hunger and cold during the winter, a portion of the Indians were per¬ 
mitted to return to their settlements on the Tuscarawas, for the purpose of gathering in the 
corn left on the stalk the preceding fall. 

About one hundred and fifty Moravian Indians, including women and children, arrived 
on the Tuscarawas in the latter part of February, and divided into three parties, so as to 
work at the three towns in the corn-fields. Satisfied that they had escaped from the 
thraldom of their less civilized brethren west, they little expected that a storm was gather¬ 
ing among the white settlers east, which was to burst over their peaceful habitations with 
suqh direful consequences. 

Severalylepredations had been committed by hostile Indians, about this time, on the 
frontier inhabitants of western Pennsylvania and Virginia, who determined to retaliate. A 
company of one hundred men was raised and placed under the command of Col. William¬ 
son, as a corps of volunteer militia. They set out for the Moravian towns on the Tusca¬ 
rawas, and arrived within a mile of Gnadenhutten on the night of the 5th of March. On 
the morning of the 6th, finding the Indians were employed in their corn-field, on the west 
side of the river, sixteen of Williamson’s men crossed, two at a time, over in a large sap- 
trough, or vessel used for retaining sugar-water, taking their rifles with them. The re¬ 
mainder went into the village, where they found a man and a woman, both of whom they 
killed. The sixteen on the west side, on approaching the Indians in the field, found them 
more numerous than they expected. They had their arms with them, which were usual 
on such occasions, both for purposes of protection and for killing game. The whites ac¬ 
costed them kindly, told them they had come to take them to a place where they would be 
in future protected, and advised them to quit work, and return with them to the neighbor¬ 
hood of Fort Pitt. Some of the Indians had been taken to that place in the preceding 
year, had been well treated by the American governor of the fort, and been dismissed with 
tokens of warm friendship. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the unsus¬ 
pecting Moravian Indians readily surrendered their arms, and at once consented to be con¬ 
trolled by the advice of Colonel Williamson and his men. An Indian messenger was dis¬ 
patched to Salem, to apprize the brethren there of the new arrangement, and both com¬ 
panies then returned to Gnadenhutten. On reaching the village, a number of mounted 
militia started for the Salem settlement, but e’er they reached it, found that the Moravian 


TUSCARAWAS COUNTY. 


485 


Indians at that place had already left their corn-fields, by the advice of the messenger, and 
were on the road to join their brethren at Gnadenhutten. Measures had been adopted by the 
militia to secure the Indians whom they had at first decoyed into their power. They were 
bound, confined in two houses, and well guarded. On the arrival of the Indians from 
Salem, (their arms having been previously secured without suspicion of any hostile inten¬ 
tion,) they were also fettered, and divided between the two prison-houses, the males in one, 
the females in the other. The number thus confined in both, including men, women and 
children, have been estimated from ninety to ninety-six. 

A council was then held to determine how the Moravian Indians should be disposed of. 
This self-constituted military court embraced both officers and privates. The late Dr. 
Dodridge, in his published notes on Indian wars, &c., says: “ Colonel Williamson put the 
question, whether the Moravian Indians should be taken prisoners to Fort Pitt, or put to 
death ?” requesting those who were in favor of saving their lives to step out and torm a 
second rank. Only eighteen out of the whole number stepped forth as advocates of mercy. 
In these, the feelings of hamanity were not extinct. In the majority, which was large, no 
sympathy was manifested. They resolved to murder (for no other word can express the 
act) the whole of the Christian Indians in their custody. Among these were several who 
had contributed to aid the missionaries in the work of conversion and civilization—two of 
whom emigrated from New Jersey after the death of their spiritual pastor, the Rev. David 
Brainard. One woman, who could speak good English, knelt before the commander and 
begged his protection. Her supplication was unavailing. They were ordered to prepare 
for death. But the warning had been anticipated. Their firm belief in their new creed 
was shown forth in the sad hour of their tribulation, by religious exercises of preparation. 
The orisons of these devoted people were already ascending the throne of the Most High! 
—the sound of the Christian’s hymn and the Christian’s prayer found an echo in the sur¬ 
rounding woods, but no responsive feeling in the bosoms of their executioners. With gun, 
and spear, and tomahawk, and scalping-knife, the work of death progressed in these 
slaughter-houses, till not a sigh or moan was heard to proclaim the existence of human life 
within—all, save two—two Indian boys escaped, as if by a miracle, to be witnesses in 
after times of the savage cruelty of the white man towards their unfortunate race. 

Thus were upwards of ninety human beings hurried to an untimely grave by those who 
should have been their legitimate protectors. After committing the barbarous act, William¬ 
son and his men set fire to the houses containing the dead, and then marched off for Shoen- 
brun, the upper Indian town. But here the news of their atrocious deeds had preceded 
them. The inhabitants had all fled, and with them fled for a time the hopes of the mis¬ 
sionaries to establish a settlement of Christian Indians on the Tuscarawas. The fruits of 
ten years’ labor in the cause of civilization, was apparently lost. 

The hospitable and friendly character of the Moravian Indians, had extended beyond 
their white brethren on the Ohio. The American people looked upon the act of William¬ 
son and his men as an outrage on humanity. The American Congress felt the influence 
of public sympathy for their fate, and on the 3d of September, 1788, passed an ordinance 
for the encouragement of the Moravian missionaries in the work of civilizing the Indians. 
A remnant of the scattered flock was brought back, and two friendly chiefs and their fol¬ 
lowers became the recipients of public favor. The names of these chiefs were Killbuck 
and White Eyes. Two sons of the former, after having assumed the name of Henry, out 
of respect to the celebrated Patrick Henry, of Virginia, were taken to Princeton College 
to be educated. White Eyes was shot by a lad, some years afterwards, on the ^waters of 
Yellow creek, Columbiana county. 

Three tracts of land, containing four thousand acres each, was appropriated by congress 
to the Moravian society, or rather to the society for propagating the gospel among the 
heathen, which is nearly synonymous. These tracts embrace the three Indian towns 
already described, and by the provisions of the patent, which was issued 1798, the society 
was constituted trustees for the Christian Indians thereon settled. Extraordinary efforts 
were now made by the society in the good work of civilization. Considerable sums of 
money were expended in making roads, erecting temporary mills, and constructing houses. 
The Indians were collected near the site of the upper town, Shoenbrun, which had been 
burned at the time of the Williamson expedition, and a new village, called Goshen, erected 
for their habitations. It was here, while engaged in the laudable work of educating the 
Indian in the arts of civilized life, and inculcating the principles of Christian morality, that 
two of the missionaries, Edwards and Zeisberger, terminated their earthly pilgrimage. 
Their graves are yet to be seen, with plain tombstones, in the Goshen burying-ground, 
three miles south of New Philadelphia. 

The habits and character of the Indians changed for the worse, in proportion as the 
whites settled in their neighborhood. If the extension of the white settlements west tended 


486 


TUSCARAWAS COUNTY. 


to improve the country, it had a disastrous effect upon the poor Indian. In addition to the 
contempt in which they were held by the whites, the war of 1812 revived former preju¬ 
dices. An occasional intercourse with the Sandusky Indians had been kept up by some 
of those at Goshen. A portion of the former were supposed to be hostile to the Amer¬ 
icans, and the murder of some whites on the Mohiccan, near Richland, by unknown In¬ 
dians, tended to confirm the suspicion. 

The Indian settlement remained under the care of Rev. Abram Luckenbach, until the 
year 1823. It was found impossible to preserve their morals free from contamination. 
Their intercourse with the white population in the neighborhood, was gradually sinking 
them into deeper degradation. Though the legislature of Ohio passed an act prohibiting 
the sale of spirituous liquors to Indians, under a heavy penalty, yet the law was either 
evaded or disregarded. Drunken Indians were occasionally seen at the county seat, or at 
their village at Goshen. Though a large portion of the lands appropriated for their ben¬ 
efit had been leased out, the society derived very little profit from the tenants. The entire 
expenses of the Moravian mission, and not unfrequently the support of sick, infirm or des¬ 
titute Indians devolved on their spiritual guardians. Upon representation of these facts, 
congress was induced to adopt such measures as would tend to the removal of the Indians, 
and enable the society to divest itself of the trusteeship in the land. 

On the 4th of August, 1823, an agreement or treaty was entered into at Gnadenhutten, 
between Lewis Cass, then governor of Michigan, on the part of the United States, and 
Lewis de Schweinitz, on the part of the society, as a preliminary step towards the retro¬ 
cession of the land to the government. By this agreement, the members of the society 
relinquished their right as trustees, conditioned that the United States would pay $6,654, 
being but a moiety of the money they had expended. The agreement could not be legal 
without the written consent of the Indians, for whose benefit the land had been donated. 
These embraced the remainder of the Christian Indians formerly settled on the land, “ in¬ 
cluding Killbuck and his descendants, and the nephews and descendants of the late Captain 
White Eyes, Delaware chiefs.” The Goshen Indians, as they were now called, repaired 
to Detroit, for the purpose of completing the contract. On the 8th of November, they 
signed a treaty with Governor Cass, in which they relinquished their right to the twelve 
thousand acres of land in Tuscarawas county, for twenty-four thousand acres in one of the 
territories, to be designated by the United States, together with an annuity of $400. The 
latter stipulation was clogged with a proviso, which rendered its fulfilment uncertain. The 
Indians never returned. The principal part of them took up their residence at a Moravian 
missionary station on the river Thames, in Canada. By an act of congress, passed May 
26,1824, their former inheritance, comprising the Shoenbrun, Gnadenhutten and Salem 
tracts, were surveyed into farm lots and sold.* In the following year the Ohio canal was 
located, and now passes close to the site of the three ancient Indian villages. The popu¬ 
lation of the county rapidly increased, and their character and its aspect have consequently 
changed. A few years more, and the scenes and actors here described will be forgotten, 
unless preserved by that art which is preservative of the histories of nations and of men. 
Goshen, the last abiding place of the Christian Indians, on the Tuscarawas, is now occupied 
and cultivated by a German farmer. A high hill which overlooked their village, and which 
is yet covered with trees, under whose shade its semi-civilized inhabitants perhaps once 
“stretched their listless length,” is now being worked in the centre as a coal mine. The 
twang of the bow-string, or the whoop of the young Indian, is succeeded by the dull, crash¬ 
ing sound of the coal-car, as it drops its burden into the canal boat. Yet there is one spot 
here still sacred to the memory of its former occupants. As you descend the south side of 
the hill, on the Zanesville road, a small brook runs at its base, bordered on the opposite side 
by a high bank. On ascending the bank, a few rods to the right, is a small enclosed grave¬ 
yard, overgrown with low trees or brush-wood. Here lie the remains of several Indians, 
with two of their spiritual pastors, (Edwards and Zeisberger.) The grave of the latter 
is partly covered with a small marble slab, on which is the following inscription. 

David Zeisberger, 

who was born 11th April, 1721, in Moravia, 
and departed this life 7th Nov., 1808, aged 87 
years, 7 months and 6 days. This faithful ser¬ 
vant of the Lord labored among the Moravian 
Indians, as a missionary, during the last sixty 
years of his life. 


• The writer of this article was appointed agent of the United States for that purpose. 







TUSCARAWAS COUNTY - , 


487 


Some friendly hand, perhaps a relative, placed the stone on the grave, many years after 
the decease of him who rests beneath it. 

Gnadenhutten is still a small village, containing 120 souls, chiefly Moravians, who have 
a neat church and parsonage-house. About a hundred yards east of the town is the site 
of the ancient Indian village, with the stone foundations of their huts, and marks of the 
conflagration that consumed the bodies of the slain in 1782. The notice which has been 
taken of this tragical affair in different publications, has given a mournful celebrity to the 
spot where it transpired. The intelligent traveller often stops on his journey to pay a visit 
to the graves of the Indian martyrs, who fell victims to that love of peace which is the 
genuine attribute of Christianity. From the appearance of the foundations, the village 
must have been formed of one street. Here and there, may be excavated, burnt corn and 
other relics of the fire. Apple trees, planted by the missionaries, are yet standing, sur¬ 
rounded by rough under-brush. A row of Lombardy poplars were planted for ornament, 
one of which yet towers aloft undecayed by time, a natural monument to the memory of 
those who are interred beneath its shade. But another monument, more suitable to the 
place and the event to be commemorated, will, it is hoped, be erected at no distant day. 
Some eight or ten individuals of the tov/n and neighborhood, mostly farmers and me¬ 
chanics, met on the 7th of October, 1843, and organized a society for the purpose of en¬ 
closing the area around the place where the bodies of the Christian Indians are buried, 
and erecting a suitable monument to their memory. The two prominent officers selected 
were Rev. Sylvester Walle, resident Moravian minister, president, and Lewis Peter, treas¬ 
urer. The first and second articles of the constitution declare the intention of the “ Gna¬ 
denhutten Monument Society” to be—“ to make judicious and suitable improvements upon 
the plat of the old Indian village, and to erect on that spot an appropriate monument, com¬ 
memorating the death of 96 Christian Indians, who were murdered there on the 8th day 
of March, A. D. 1782.” It is further provided, that any person paying annually the sum 
of one dollar, shall be considered a member; if he pay the sum of ten dollars, or add to 
his one dollar payment a sum to make it equal to that amount, he is considered a member 
for life. Owing to the circumscribed means of the members, and the comparative ob¬ 
scurity of the village, the fund has yet only reached seventy dollars, whereas five hundred 
would be required to erect any thing like a suitable monument. Whether it will be ulti¬ 
mately completed, must depend on the liberality of the public. Sixty-five years have 
elapsed since the Moravian Indians paid the forfeit of their lives for adhering to the peace¬ 
able injunctions of their religion. Shall the disciples of Zeisberger, the philanthropist, the 
scholar, and the Christian—he who labored more than half a century to reclaim the wild 
man of the forest from barbarism, and shed on his path the light of civilization—shall no 
monument perpetuate the benevolent deeds of the missionary—no inscription proclaim the 
pious fidelity of his converts? If the reader feels a sympathy for the cause in which each 
became a sacrifice, he has now the power to contribute his mite in transmitting the memory 
of their virtues to posterity. 

Miss Mary Heckewelder, who was living at Bethlehem, in Penn¬ 
sylvania, as late as 1843, is generally said to have been the first 
white child born in Ohio. She was the daughter of the noted Mo¬ 
ravian missionary of that name, and was born in Salem, one of the 
Moravian Indian towns on the Tuscarawas, in this county, April 
16th, 1781. 

Mr. Dinsmore, a planter of Boone county, Ky., orally informed 
us that in the year 1835, when residing in the parish of Terre Bonne, 
La., he became acquainted with a planter named Millehomme, who 
informed him that he was born in the forest, on the head waters of 
the Miami, on or near the Loramie Portage, about the year 1774. 
His parents were Canadian French, then on their route to Louisiana. 

Half a mile below Bolivar are the remains of Fort Laurens, 
erected in the war of the revolution, and named from the president 
of the revolution congress. It was the scene of border warfare and 
bloodshed. The canal passes through its earthen walls. The par¬ 
apet walls are now a few feet in height, and were once crowned 
with pickets made of the split trunks of trees. The walls enclose 


488 


TUSCARAWAS COUNTY. 


about an acre of land, and stand on the west bank of the Tusca¬ 
rawas. Dr. S. P. Hildreth gives the annexed history of this work, 
in Silliman’s Journal. 

Fort Laurens was erected in the fall of the year 1778, by a detachment of 1000 men 
from Fort Pitt, under the command of General M’Intosh. After its completion, a garri¬ 
son of 150 men was placed in it, and left in the charge of Col. John Gibson, while the rest 
of the army returned to Fort Pitt. It was established at this early day in the country of the 
Indians, seventy miles west of Fort M’Intosh, with an expectation that it would act as a 
salutary check on their incursions into the white settlements south of the Ohio river. The 
usual approach to it from Fort M’Intosh, the nearest military station, was from the mouth 
Yellow creek, and down the Sandy, which latter stream heads with the former, and puts of 
into the Tuscarawas just above the fort. So unexpected and rapid were the movements 
of General M’lntosh, that the Indians were not aware of his presence in their country, 
until the fort was completed. Early in January, 1779, the Indians mustered their war¬ 
riors with such secrecy, that the fort was invested before the garrison had notice of their 
approach. From the manuscript notes of Henry Jolly, Esq., -who was an actor in this, as 
well as in many other scenes on the frontier, I have copied the following historical facts. 

“ When the main army left the fort to return to Fort Pitt, Captain Clark remained be¬ 
hind with a small detachment of United States troops, for the purpose of marching in the 
invalids and artificers who had tarried to finish the fort, or were too unwell to march with 
the main army. He endeavored to take the advantage of very cold weather, and had 
marched three or four miles, (for I travelled over the ground three or four times soon after,) 
when he was fired upon by a small party of Indians very close at hand, I think twenty or 
thirty paces. This discharge wounded two of his men slighty. Knowing as he did that 
his men were unfit to fight Indians in their own fashion, he ordered them to reserve their 
fire, and to charge bayonet, which being promptly executed, put the Indians to flight, and 
after pursuing a short distance, he called off his men and retreated to the fort, bringing in 
the wounded.” In other accounts I have read of this affair, it is stated that ten of Captain 
Clark’s men were killed. “ During the cold weather, while the Indians were lying about 
the fort, although none had been seen for a few days, a party of seventeen men went out for 
the purpose of carrying in fire-wood, which the army had cut before they left the place, 
about forty or fifty rods from the fort. Near the bank of the river was an ancient mound, 
behind which lay a quantity of wood. A party had been out for several preceding morn¬ 
ings and brought in wood, supposing the Indians would not be watching the fort in such 
very cold weather. But on that fatal morning, the Indians had concealed themselves be¬ 
hind the mound, and as the soldiers passed round on one side of the mound, a part of the 
Indians came round on the other, and enclosed the wood party, so that not one escaped. 
I was personally acquainted with some of the men who were killed.” 

The published statements of this affair say that the Indians enticed the men out in 
search of horses, by taking off their bells and tinkling them ; but it is certain that no 
horses were left at the fort, as they must either starve or be stolen by the Indians; so that 
Mr. Jolly’s version of the incident must be correct. During the siege, which continued 
until the*last of February, the garrison were very short of provisions. The Indians sus¬ 
pected this to be the fact, but were also nearly starving themselves. In this predicament, 
they proposed to the garrison that if they would give them a barrel of flour and some 
meat, they would raise the siege, concluding if they had not this quantity they must sur¬ 
render at discretion soon, and if they had they would not part with it. In this, however, 
they missed their object. The brave Colonel Gibson turned out the flour and meat 
promptly, and told them he could spare it very well, as he had plenty more. The Indians 
soon after raised the siege. A runner was sent to Fort M’Intosh with a statement of their 
distress, and requesting reinforcements and provisions immediately. The inhabitants south 
of the Ohio volunteered their aid, and General M’lntosh headed the escert of provisions, 
which reached the fort in safety, but was near being all lost from the dispersion of the pack- 
horses in the woods near the fort, from a fright occasioned by a feu dejoie fired by the 
garrison, at the relief. The fort was finally evacuated in August, 1779, it being found un¬ 
tenable at such a distance from the frontiers; and Henry Jolly was one of the last men 
who left it, holding at that time in the continental service the commission of ensign. 

New Philadelphia, the county seat, is 100 miles northeasterly 
from Columbus. It is on the east bank of the Tuscarawas, on a 
large level and beautiful plain. It was laid out in 1804, by John 
Knisely, and additions subsequently made. The town has improved 


TUSCARAWAS COUNTY. 


489 


much within the last few years, and is now flourishing. It contains 
1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist and 1 Disciples church, 5 mercantile 



Central View in New Philadelphia. 


stores, 2 printing offices, 1 oil and 1 grist mill, 1 woollen factory, 
and a population estimated at over 1000. 

In the late war, some Indians, under confinement in jail in this 
town, were saved from being murdered by the intrepidity of two or 
three individuals. The circumstances are derived from two com¬ 
munications, one of which is from a gentleman then present. 

About the time of Hull’s surrender, several persons were murdered on the Mohiccan, 
near Mansfield, which created great alarm and excitement. 

Shortly after this event, three Indians, said to be unfriendly, had arrived at Goshen. 
The knowledge of this circumstance created much alarm, and an independent company of 
cavalry, of whom Alexander M’Connel was captain, were solicited by the citizens to pur¬ 
sue and take them. Some half a dozen, with their captain, turned out for that purpose. 
Where daring courage was required to achieve any hostile movement, no man* was more 
suitable than Alexander M’Connel. The Indians were traced to a small island near 
Goshen. M’Connel plunged his horse into the river and crossed, at the same time order¬ 
ing his men to follow, but none chose to obey him. He dismounted, hitched his horse, and 
with a pistol in each hand commenced searching for them. He had gone but a few steps 
into the interior of the island when he discovered one of them, with his rifle, lying at 
full length behind a log. He presented his pistol—the Indian jumped to his feet, but 
M’Connel disarmed him. He also took the others, seized their arms, and drove them be¬ 
fore him. On reaching his company, one of his men hinted that they should be put to death. 
“ Not until they have had a trial according to law,” said the captain ; then ordering his 
company to wheel, they conducted the prisoners to the county jail. 

The murder which had been perpetrated on the Mohiccan had aroused the feelings of 
the white settlers in that neighborhood almost to phrenzy. No sooner did the report reach 
them that some strange Indians had been arrested and confined in the New Philadelphia 
jail, than a company of about 40 men was organized at or near Wooster, armed with rifles, 
under the command of a Captain Mullen, and marched for New Philadelphia to dispatch 
these Indians. When within about a mile of the town, coming in from the west, John C. 
Wright, then a practicing lawyer at Steubenville, (later Judge,) rode into the place from 
the east on business. He was hailed by Henry Laffer, Esq., at that time sheriff of the 
county, told that the Indian prisoners were in his custody, the advancing company of men 
was pointed out to him, their object stated, and the inquiry made, “ what is to be done V* 
« The prisoners must be saved, sir,” replied Wright; “ why don’t you beat an alarm and 
call out the citizens V * To this he replied, “ our people are much exasperated, and the fear 

62 





















490 


TUSCAEAWAS COUNTY. 


is, that if they are called out they will side with the company, whose object is to take their 
lives.” “ Is there no one who will stand by you to prevent so dastardly a murder I” rejoined 
Wright. “ None but M’Connel, who captured them.” “ Have you any arms!” “ None 
but an old broadsword and a pistol.” “ Well,” replied W., “ go call M’Connel, get your 
weapons, and come up to the tavern; I’ll put away my horse and make a third man to 
defend the prisoners ; we must not have so digraceful a murder committed here.” 

Wright put up his horse, and was joined by Laffer and M’Connel. About this time the 
military company came up to the tavern door, and there halted for some refreshments. Mr. 
Wright knew the captain and many of the men, and went along the line, followed by the 
sheriff, inquiring their object and remonstrating, pointing out the disgrace of so cowardly 
an act as was contemplated, and assuring them, in case they carried out their brutal design, 
they would be prosecuted and punished for murder. Several left the line, declaring they 
would have nothing more to do with the matter. The captain became angry, ordered the 
ground to be cleared, formed his men and moved towards the jail. M’Connei was at the 
jail door, and the sheriff and Wright took a cross cut and joined him before the troops ar¬ 
rived. The prisoners had been laid on the floor against the front wall as a place of safety. 
The three arranged themselves before the jail door—M’Connel with the sword, sheriff Laf¬ 
fer had the pistol, and Wright was without weapon. The troops formed in front, a parley 
was had, and Wright again went along the line remonstrating, and detached two or three 
more men. He was ordered off, and took his position at the jail door with his companions. 
The men were formed, and commands, preparatory to a discharge of their arms, issued. 

In this position the three were ordered off, but refiised to obey, declaring that the prisoners 
should not be touched except they first dispatched them. Their firmness had its effect; the 
order to fire was given, and the men refused to obey. Wright again went along the line 
remonstrating, &c., while M’Connel and Laffer maintained their position at the door. One 
or two more were persuaded to leave the line. The captain became very angry and ordered 
him off. He again took his place with his two companions. The company was marched 
off some distance and treated with whiskey; and after some altercation, returned to the 
jail door, were arranged and prepared for a discharge of their rifles, and the three ordered 
off on pain of being shot. They maintained their ground without faltering, and the com¬ 
pany gave way and abandoned their project. Some of them were afterwards permitted, 
one at a time, to go in and see the prisoners, care being taken that no harm was done. 
These three gentlemen received no aid from the citizens ; the few that were about looked 
on merely. Their courage and firmness were truly admirable. 

The Indians were retained in jail until Governor Meigs, who had been some time ex¬ 
pected, arrived in New Philadelphia. He instructed Gen. A. Shane, then a lieutenant, re¬ 
cruiting for the United States service, to take the Indians with his men to the rendezvous at 
Zanesville. From thence they were ordered to be sent with his recruits to the head¬ 
quarters of General Harrison, at Seneca, at which place they were discharged. 

Another incident occurred in Lieutenant Shane’s journey to head-quarters, which illus¬ 
trates the deep-rooted prejudices entertained by many at that time against the Indians. 
The lieutenant with his company stopped a night at Newark. The three Indians were 
guarded as prisoners, and that duty devolved by turns on the recruits. A physician, who 
lived in Newark, and kept a small drug shop, informed the officer that two of his men had 
applied to him for poison. On his questioning them closely what use they were to make of 

it, they partly confessed that it was intended for the Indians. It was at night when they 
applied for it, and they were dressed in fatigue frocks. In the morning the lieutenant had 
his men paraded, and called the doctor to point out those who had meditated such a base 
act; but the doctor, either unwilling to expose himself to the enmity of the men, or unable 
to discern them, the whole company being then dressed in their regimentals, the affair was 
passed over with some severe remarks by the commanding officer on the unsoldier-like 
conduct of those who could be guilty of such a dastardly crime of poisoning. 

A singular legal anecdote is related as having occurred at New 
Philadelphia at an early day. 

The court was held on this occasion in a log tavern, and an adjoining log stable was used 
as a jail, the stalls answering as cells for the prisoners. Judge T. was on the bench, and 
in the exercise of his judicial functions severely reprimanded two young lawyers who had 
got into a personal dispute. A huge, herculean backwoodsman, attired in a red flannel 
shirt, stood among the auditors in the apartment which served the double purpose of court 
and bar-room. He was much pleased ,at the judge’s lecture—having himself been prac¬ 
tising at another har —and hallooed out to his worship—who happened to be cross-eyed—in 
the midst of his harangue, “ give it to ’em, old gimlet eyes!” “ Who is that I” demanded 


TUSCARAWAS COUNTY, 


491 


the judge. He of the flannel shirt, proud of being thus noticed, stepped out from among the 
rest, and drawing himself up to his full height, vociferated “ it's this ’ere old hoss !” The 
judge, who to this day never failed of a pungent repartee when occasion required, called 
out in a peculiarly dry nasal tone, “ sheriff’! take that old hoss , put him in the stable , and 
see that, he is not stolen before morning.” 



Dover. 


Dover, 3 miles nw. of New Philadelphia, was laid out in the fall 
of 1807, by Slingluff and Deardorff, and was an inconsiderable vil¬ 
lage until the Ohio canal went into operation. It is now, through 
the enterprize of its citizens and the facilities furnished by the canal, 
one of the most thriving villages upon it, by which it is distant from 



View in Zoar. 


[On the right is shown the hotel; on the left, the store—beyond, up the street, is a build¬ 
ing of considerable elegance, the residence of Mr. Bimeler. Among the carefully culti¬ 
vated shrubbery in the gardens adjoining, are cedar trees of some twenty feet in height, 
trimmed to almost perfect cylinders.] 










































492 


TUSCARAWAS COUNTY, 


Cleveland 93 miles. Its situation is fine, being upon a slight eleva¬ 
tion on the west bank of the Tuscarawas, in the midst of a beautiful 
and fertile country. The view was taken on the line of the canal: 
Deardorff’s mill and the bridge over the canal are seen on the right; 
in the centre of the view appears the spire of the Baptist church, and 
on the extreme left, Welty and Hayden’s flouring mill. The town 
is sometimes incorrectly called Canal Dover, that being the name of 
the post-oflice It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Lutheran, 1 Moravian, 
1 Baptist, and 1 Methodist church; 6 mercantile stores, 1 woollen 
factory, 2 furnaces, 1 saw and 2 flouring mills, 3 tanneries, 2 for¬ 
warding houses, and had in 1840, 598 inhabitants, since which it is 
estimated to have doubled its population. 

Eleven miles n. of the county seat, and eight from Dover, is the 
settlement of a German community, a sketch of whom we annex from 
one of our own communications to a public print. 

In the spring of 1817, about two hundred Germans from Wirtemberg embarked upon the 
ocean. Of lowly origin, of the sect called Separatists, they were about to seek a home in 
the New World to enjoy the religious freedom denied in their fatherland. In August they 
arrived in Philadelphia, poor in purse, ignorant of the world, but rich in a more exalted 
treasure. On their voyage across the Atlantic, one young man gained their veneration and 
affections by his superior intelligence, simple manners and kindness to the sick. Originally 
a weaver, then a teacher in Germany, and now entrusting his fortunes with those of like 
faith, Joseph M. Bimeler found himself, on reaching our shores, the acknowledged one 
whose sympathies were to soften and whose judgment was to guide them through the trials 
and vicissitudes yet to come. Acting by general consent as agent, he purchased for them 
on credit 5,500 acres in the county of Tuscarawas, to which the colonists removed the 
December and January following. They fell to work in separate families, erecting bark 
huts and log shanties, and providing for their immediate wants. 

Strangers in a strange land, girt around by a wilderness enshrouded in winter’s stern and 
dreary forms, ere spring had burst upon them with its gladdening smile, the cup of priva¬ 
tion and suffering was held to their lips and they were made to drink to the dregs. But 
although poor and humble, they were not entirely friendless. A distant stranger, by chance 
hearing of the distress of these poor German emigrants, sent provisions for their relief—an 
incident related by some of them at the present day with tears of gratitude. 

For about eighteen months they toiled in separate families, but unable thus to sustain 
themselves in this then new country, the idea was suggested to combine and conquer by the 
mighty enginery of associated effort. A constitution was adopted, formed on purely re¬ 
publican and democratic principles, under which they have lived to the present time. By it 
they hold all their property in common. Their principal officers are an agent and three 
trustees, upon whom devolve the management of the temporal affairs of the community. 
Their offices are elective, females voting as well as males. The trustees serve three years, 
one vacating his post annually and a new election held. 

For years the colony struggled against the current, but their economy, industry and in¬ 
tegrity enabled them to overcome every obstacle and eventually to obtain wealth. Their 
numbers have slightly diminished since their arrival, in consequence of a loss of fifty per¬ 
sons in the summer of 1832, by cholera and kindred diseases, and poverty in the early years 
of their settlement, which prevented the contracting of new matrimonial alliances. 

Their property is now valued at near half a million. It consists of nine thousand acres 
of land in one body, one oil, one saw and two flouring mills, two furnaces, one woollen 
factory, the stock of their domain and money invested in stocks.- Their village, named 
Zoar, situated about half a mile east of the Tuscarawas, has not a very prepossessing 
appearance. 

Every thing is for use—little for show. The dwellings, twenty-five in number, are sub¬ 
stantial and of comfortable proportions ; many of them log, and nearly all unpainted. The 
barns are of huge dimensions, and with the rest are grouped without order, rearing their 
brown sides and red tiled roofs above the foliage of the fruit-trees, partially enveloping 
them. Turning from the village, the eye is refreshed by the verdure of the meadows that 
stretch away on either hand, where not even a stick or a chip is to be seen to mar the neat¬ 
ness and beauty of the green sward. 


TUSCARAWAS COUNTY, 


493 


The sound of the horn at day-break calls them to their labors. They mostly work in 
groups, in a plodding but systematic manner that accomplishes much. Their tools are 
usually coarse, among which is the German sythe, short and unwieldy as a bush-hook, 
sickles without teeth, and hoes clumsy and heavy as the mattock of the southern slave. 
The females join in the labors of the field, hoe, reap, pitch hay, and even clean and wheel 
out in barrows the offal of the stables. Their costume and language are that of Germany. 
They are seen about the village going to the field with implements of labor across their 
shoulders, their faces shaded by immense circular rimmed hats of straw—or with their hair 
combed straight back from their foreheads and tied under a coarse blue cap of cotton, toting 
upon their heads baskets of apples or tubs of milk. 

Systematic division of labor is a prominent feature in their domestic economy, although 
here far from reaching its attainable perfection. Their clothing is washed together, and 
one bakery supplies them with bread. A general nursery shelters all the children over 
three years of age. There these little pocket editions of humanity are well cared for by 
kind dames, in the sere and yellow leaf. 

The selfishness so prominent in the competitive avocations of society, is here kept from 
its odious development by the interest each strikingly manifests in the general welfare, as 
only thus can their own be promoted. The closest economy is shown in all their opera¬ 
tions—for as the good old man Kreutzner, the Boniface of the community, once observed 
in broken English, when starting on a bee line for a decaying apple cast by a heedless stran¬ 
ger into the street—•“ saving make rich !” Besides acting as host in the neat village inn, 
this man, Kreutzner, is the veterinary iEsculapius of this society, carrying out the universal 
economy still farther by practicing on the homoeopathic principles! Astonishing are the 
results of his skill on his quarto-limbed patients, who, from rolling and snorting under acute 
pains of the abdominal viscera, are, by the melting on the lips of their tongues of a few pills 
of an infinitesimal size, lifted into a comfortable state of physical exaltation. 

With all the peculiarities of their religious faith and practice we are unacquainted; but, 
like most sects denominated Christian, there is sufficient in their creed, if followed, to make 
their lives here upright, and to justify the hope of a glorious future. Separatists is a term 
applied to them, because they separated from the Lutheran and other denominations. They 
have no prayers, baptisms nor sacraments, and, like Jews, eschew pork. Their log church 
is often filled winter evenings, and twice on the Sabbath. The morning service consists 
of music, instrumental and vocal, in which a piano is used, together with the reading and 
explanation of the scriptures by one of their number. The afternoon exercises differ from 
it in the substitution of catechising from a German work for biblical instruction. 

They owe much of their prosperity to Bimeler, now an old man, and justly regarded as the 
patriarch of the community. He is their adviser in all temporal things, their physician to 
heal their bodily infirmities, and their spiritual guide to point to a purer world. Although 
but as one of them, his superior education and excellent moral qualities have given him a 
commanding influence, and gained their love and reverence. He returns the affection of 
the people, with whom he has toiled until near a generation has passed away, vTith his 
whole soul. He has few thoughts for his fatherland, and no desire to return thither to visit 
the home of his youth. The green hills of this beautiful valley enclose the dearest objects 
of his earthly affections and earthly hopes. 

The community are strict utilitarians, and there is but little mental development among 
them. Instruction is given in winter to the children in German and English. They are 
a very simple-minded, artless people, unacquainted with the outer world, and the great 
questions, moral and political, which agitate it. Of scarcely equaled morality, never has a 
member been convicted of going counter to the judicial regulations of the land. Thus they 
pass through their pilgrimage with but apparently few of the ills that fall to the common 
lot, presenting a reality delightful to behold, with contentment resting upon their counte¬ 
nances and hearts in which is enthroned peace. 

The following is a list of villages in the county, with their distances 
and directions from New Philadelphia, and their population in 1840, 
some of which are thriving places, and have since much increased: 
Bolivar, at the junction of the Sandy and Beaver with the Ohio 
canal, 11 n., 253; Lockport, on the Ohio canal, 2 sw., 191 ; New 
Cumberland, 10 ne., 138; Port Washington, on the Ohio canal, 18 
sw., 116; Shanesville, 12 w., 226, and Sandyville, 12 ne., on the 
Sandy and Beaver canal, 243. Eastport, Lawrenceville, Rogers- 
ville, Strasburg, Westchester, Gnadenhutten, Trenton and Uhrichs- 


494 


UNION COUNTY. 


ville are also small places: the last of which is a thriving town, on 
Stillwater creek, by which large quantities of produce are shipped 
to the Ohio canal, only a few miles distant. 


UNION. 

Union was formed April 1st, 1820, from Delaware, Franklin, Mad¬ 
ison and Logan, together with a part of old Indian territory. The 
surface is generally level, and most of the soil clayey. The south¬ 
western part is prairie land, and the north and eastern woodland of 
great fertility when cleared. In the eastern part are valuable lime¬ 
stone quarries. The principal products are corn, grass, wheat, oats, 
potatoes, butter and cheese. The following is a list of its townships 
in 1840, with their population. 


Allen, 
Claiborne, 
Darby, 
Dover, 
Jerome, 


714 

497 

736 

457 

868 


Jackson, 
Leesburgh, 
Liberty, 
Mill Creek, 


352 

720 

922 

524 


Paris, 1151 
Union, 894 

Washington, 154 
York, 439 


The population of Union, in 1830, was 3,192, and in 1840, 8443, 
or 19 inhabitants to the square mile. 

The first white men who ever made a settlement within the county 
were James Ewing and his brother Joshua. They purchased land 
and settled on Darby Creek, in what is now Jerome Township, in 
the year 1798. The next year came Samuel Mitchell, David Mitch¬ 
ell, Samuel Mitchell, jr., Samuel Kirkpatrick, and Samuel McCul¬ 
lough ; and in 1800, George Reed, Samuel Reed, Robert Snodgrass, 
and Paul Houston. 

James Ewing’s farm was the site of an ancient and noted Mingo 
town, which was deserted at the time the Mingo towns, in what is 
now Logan county, were destroyed by Gen. Logan of Kentucky, 
in 1786. When Mr. Ewing took possession of it, the houses were 
still remaining, and, among others, the remains of a blacksmith’s 
shop, with coal, cinders, iron-dross, &c. Jonathan Alder, formerly 
a prisoner among the Indians, says the shop was carried on by a ren¬ 
egade white man named Butler, who lived among the Mingoes. Ex¬ 
tensive fields had formerly been cultivated in the immediate vicinity 
of the town. 

The county was erected through the exertions of Col. James 
Curry, who was then a member of the state legislature. He resided 
within the present boundaries of the county from the year 1811 until 
his death, which took place in the year 1834. He served as an offi¬ 
cer in the Virginia continental line, during the chief part of the 
revolutionary war. He was taken prisoner when the American 
army surrendered at Charleston, S. C. In early youth he was with 
the Virginia forces at Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Kenhawa, 
and took part in the battle with the Indians at that place. His 
account of that battle differed, in one respect, from some of the 



UNION COUNTY. 


495 


accounts of it which we have read. His recollection was perfectly 
distinct, that when the alarm was given in the camp, upon the ap¬ 
proach of the Indians in the morning, a limited number of men from 
each company were called for, and sent out with the expectation 
that they would have a fine frolic in the pursuit of what they sup¬ 
posed to be a mere scouting party of Indians. After the party thus 
detached had been gone a few minutes, a few scattering reports of 
rifles began to be heard. Momently, however, the firing became 
more rapid, until it became apparent that the Indians were in force. 
The whole available force of the whites then left the camp. Du¬ 
ring the forenoon, Mr. C. received a wound from a rifle ball which 
passed directly through the elbow of his right arm, which disabled 
him for the remainder of the day. 

During his residence in Ohio he was extensively known, and had 
many warm friends among the leading men of the state. He was 
one of the electors by whom the vote of the state was given to 
James Monroe for president of the United States. The last of many 
public trusts which he held was that of associate judge for this 
county.* 



Central view in Marysville. 


Marysville, the county seat, so named from a daughter of the 
original proprietor, is 30 miles nw. of Columbus, on Mill Creek, a 
tributary of the Scioto. It contains 1 Presbyterian and 1 Metho¬ 
dist church, an academy, 1 newspaper printing office, 3 mercantile 
stores, and had in 1843," 360 inhabitants; it is now estimated to con¬ 
tain about 600. 

Milford, 5 miles sw. of Marysville on Big Darby, is a flourishing 
village, having 1 Presbyterian and 1 Methodist church, 3 mercantile 
stores, and about 400 inhabitants. The following is a list of places 
in the county with their population in 1840:—Essex 34, Fairsburgh 
20, Liberty 44, Richwood 99, Washington 10, and York 49. 

* The preceding historical items respecting this county were communicated by a resident. 







490 


VAN WERT COUNTY. 


VAN WERT. 


Van Wert was formed April 1st, 1820, from old Indian territory. 
It was named from Isaac Van Wart, one of the three captors of 
Maj. Andre in the revolutionary war, who resided near Tarry town, 
New York, at the time of his death, in 1828, aged 68 years. The 
surface is level, and the top soil loam, and the sub-soil blue marl 
and very deep, and what is remarkable, of such tenacity that water 
will not sink through it. Hence, in wet seasons, the crops are poor 
from the water standing on the soil. When the country is cleared 
and drained, this difficulty will be obviated. The soil is very rich, 
and the surface covered with a great variety of timber. The prin¬ 
cipal product is Indian corn. The following is a list of the town¬ 
ships in 1840, with their population. 

Harrison, 168 Pleasant, 192 Washington, 47 


211 Will shire, 

99 York, 


Hoaglin, 40 Ridge, 

Jennings, 88 Tully, 


434 

181 


Liberty, 117 

The population of Van Wert in 1840, was 1577, or about 4 per¬ 
sons to the square mile. 

Yan Wert received its present boundaries and name in the spring 
of 1820, two years after the lands of the northwestern part of Ohio 
were purchased from the Indians, by the treaty of St. Mary’s. With 
most of the 14 counties formed by the same act, it was almost an 
entire wilderness, the surveyors’ marks upon the township lines 
being, with a few exceptions, the only traces of civilization in the 
whole region. 

The ridge upon which stand the towns of Van Wert and Section Ten, is a subject of 
curiosity to strangers. It is of great utility to the people of this county and the others, (Put¬ 
nam, Hancock,Wyandot to Seneca,) through which it passes, being at all seasons the best 
natural road in th.s part of Ohio. It is composed entirely of sand and gravel, and has an 
average widih of about half a mile. Its highest point is generally near the south side, 
from which it gradually slopes to the north. The timber is such as is usually found upon the 
river bottoms, and although upon it are as large trees as elsewhere, yet in their character 
they form a striking contrast with the forest on either side. 

At a depth of about 16 feet through sand and gravel, pure cold water is found, while 
through the clayey soil in the country adjacent, it is often necessary to dig from 20 to 40 
feet. The ridge passes out at the northwest corner of the county, and is temporarily lost 
in the high sandy plain near Fort Wayne. Crossing the Maumee.it can be distinctly 
traced, running in a northeasterly direction ; when, although frequently eccentric and devious 
in its course, it runs nearly parallel with the river, being distant from it from 1 to 10 miles: 
it is again lost in the sandy plains nearly north of Napoleon. Has not this ridge been the 
boundary of a great bay of Lake Erie ! when its waters were, perhaps, 180 feet higher 
than now? The sand, gravel, round smooth stones and shells, all bear evidence of hav¬ 
ing been deposited by water, and the summit of the ridge is every where at the same level, 
or relative altitude. 

Van Wert, the county seat, is 136 miles nw. of Columbus, and 
was founded in 1837, by James Watson Riley, Esq. It is hand¬ 
somely situated on a natural ridge, elevated about 20 feet above the 
general surface of the country, on a fork of the Little Auglaize. It 
contains 2 stores, 1 grist and 2 saw mills, and about 200 inhabitants. 

The site of the town of Van Wert, has evidently been an Indian town, or a place for 
winter quarters; the timber standing when first visited by the writer, and probably by 


VAN WERT COUNTV. 


497 


white men, in 1825, was all small and evidently of a growth of less than 50 years, and sev¬ 
eral wooden houses, covered with bark, were in pretty good repair when the town was laid 
out in 1837 ; numerous graves, on a commanding bluff upon the bank of the creek, as well 
as the deep worn trails upon the ridge, up and down the creek, and in various other direc¬ 
tions, bear witness that this deeply sequestered, yet pleasant spot, unknown to the whites in 
all the wars, from St. Clair’s defeat to the close of the late war, and in fact, until after the 
treaty of St. Mary’s, was cherished by the Indians as a peaceful and quiet home, where 
they could in security leave their women and children, when they sallied out upon the war 
path, or hunting excursions. 

At the time of laying out the town plat, an old Indian of the Pottawatomie tribe, was 
encamped near, and told the writer that he had with his family spent forty winters there, 
and had expected there to leave his bones ; but, added he, the game will soon disappear 
after your chain has passed over the ground; in a few days I shall take my leave, and, 
added he, while tears almost choked his utterance, I shall never return again to this place, 
and the haunts of the deer, the bear and the raccoon, will soon be broken up, and brick 
houses take the place of my wigwam !! This Indian had been a brave, said “ he owned 
a farm on the river Raisin, in Michigan, which he bought from the government.” He 
had a red haired French woman, of near his own age, a prisoner taken from Montreal in 
infancy, for his wife ; but every winter he returned to his native haunts. 

Soon after the first settlement of Van Wert, a spring of clear pure well water was found, 
which had been carefully hidden years before by the Indians, with a piece of bark about 6 
feet square. This bark had been peeled from a black walnut, flattened out, the earth 
scraped away from around the spring for about 16 inches in depth, the bark laid flat over 
all, and then the whole carefully covered with earth, so that no trace of the spring could 
be seen. After removing the bark, the spring again overflowed and resumed its old chan¬ 
nel to the creek. 

Capt. James Riley was the first white man who settled in Van Wert county ; he moved 
his family into the forest, on the St. Mary’s river, in January, 1821, and began clearing up 
a farm and the erection of mills. In 1822, he laid out a town on the west bank of the 
river, opposite his mills, and named it Willshire, in honor of his benefactor who redeemed 
him from African slavery. His sufferings during his shipwreck on the coast of Africa, and 
subsequent captivity among the Arabs, have been detailed in a volume by himself, with 
which the public are already familiar. In 1823, he was elected as a single representative 
to the state legislature, from the territory which now, comprises the counties of Preble, Mi¬ 
ami, Darke, Shelby, Mercer, Allen, Van Wert, Putnam, Paulding, Defiance, Williams, 
Henry, Wood and Lucas, fourteen counties, which now, with a largely increased ratio of 
votes, send eight representatives and four senators. During that session, which is justly 
pointed to as pre-eminent in usefulness, to that of any one previous or subsequent, he bore 
a conspicuous part, and assisted in maturing the four great measures of the session, viz: 
the act for improving the state by navigable canals; the revenue act, in which the first at¬ 
tempt to establish an ad valorem system of taxation, was made ; the act providing a sink¬ 
ing fund, and an act for the encouragement of common schools; the last named, and so 
much of the first as relates to the Miami canal, were originated by him, and called his 
measures. 

Capt. Riley lived at Willshire 7 years, but his health and constitution had been de¬ 
stroyed by his sufferings in Africa, and in the spring of 1828, he was carried to Fort 
Wayne for medical aid ; after lingering on the verge of death for several months, he was 
taken on a bed to New York, and in 1830, had so far recovered as to resume his nautical 
life. In 1831, he made a voyage to Mogadore, to visit his benefactor, Mr. Willshire, es¬ 
tablished a trade there, and subsequently made nine voyages to that country, during one of 
which he sent his vessel home in charge of another, and travelled through Spain, to Mont¬ 
pelier in France, for the benefit of surgical aid. The winter of 1839-40, he spent at Mo¬ 
gadore and the city of Morocco, which latter town he visited in company with Mr. Willshire, 
and, in consequence of this visit, the Emperor granted him a license to trade with the peo¬ 
ple of his seaports, during life, upon highly favorable conditions, never before granted to 
any Christian merchant. On the 10th of March, 1840, he left New York in his brig, the 
Wm. Tell, for St. Thomas, in the West Indies, died when three days out, and was con¬ 
signed to the ocean. The vessel returned to Mogadore for the cargo provided by him, and 
was wrecked and lost while at anchor in the harbor; all on board, save one, perishing.* 

Willshire, founded in 1822, by Capt. James Riley, is in the sw. 
corner of the county, on the St. Mary’s river, and contains 1 church, 

* The sketch of the county is from a correspondent. 

63 



498 


WARREN COUNTY. 


2 stores, 2 grist and 1 saw mill, and about 100 inhabitants. Section 
Ten is on the Miami Extension canal, and has a good canal water 
power, as well as being the best accessible point on the canal from 
the county towns of Van Wert, Putnam and Allen. It was laid out 
in 1845, by 0. H. Bliss and B. F. Hollister, and has about 300 in¬ 
habitants. 


WARREN. 

Warren was formed from Hamilton, May 1st, 1803, and named 
from Gen. Joseph Warren, who fell at the battle of Bunker’s Hill. 
The surface is level or undulating, and the soil very fertile, producing 
annually over a million of bushels of corn. Considerable water 
power is furnished by its streams. The principal crops are corn, 
oats and wheat. The fallowing is a list of its townships in 1840, 
with their population. 

Clear Creek, 2821 Hamilton, 1718 Union, 1617 

Deerfield, 1875 Salem, 2955 Washington, 1306 

Franklin, 2455 Turtle Creek, 4951 Wayne, 3392 

The population of Warren in 1820 was 17,838, in 1830, 21,474, in 
1840, 23,073, or 57 inhabitants to the square mile. 

In the latter part of September, 1795, about one month after the 
treaty of Greenville, Mr. Bedell from New Jersey, made the first 
settlement in the county. Previous to this, Mill Creek, eleven miles 
from Cincinnati, was the frontier settlement in the Miami valley. 
He erected a block house as a defence against Indians about a mile 
south of Union village, at a place since known as BedelVs station . 
Shortly after, a settlement was commenced at Deerfield by Gen. 
David Sutton, Capt. Nathan Kelly and others. In the course of two 
or three years many other settlements were made, principally by 
people from New Jersey. 

Among the early settlers was Capt. Robert Benham. He lived 
in a double cabin about a mile below Lebanon, on what is now 
known as the Fearney farm, where he died a few years previous to 
the late war. He was one of a party of seventy men who were 
attacked by Indians near the Ohio, opposite Cincinnati, in the war 
of the revolution, the circumstances of which here follow from a 
published source. 

In the autumn of 1779, a number of keel boats were ascending the Ohio under the 
command of Maj. Rodgers, and had advanced as far as the mouth of Licking without ac¬ 
cident. Here, however, they observed a few Indians, standing upon the southern extremity 
of a sandbar, while a canoe, rowed by three others, was in the act of putting off from the 
Kentucky shore, as if for the purpose of taking them aboard. Rodgers immediately or¬ 
dered the boats to be made fast on the Kentucky shore, while the crew, to the number 
of seventy men, well armed, cautiously advanced in such a manner as to encircle the spot 
where the enemy had been seen to land. Only five or six Indians had been seen, and no 
one dreamed of encountering more than fifteen or twenty enemies. When Rodgers, how¬ 
ever, had, as he supposed, completely surrounded the enemy, and was preparing to rush 
upon them, from several quarters at once, he was thunderstruck at beholding several hun- 



WARREN COUNTY. 


499 


dred savages suddenly spring up in front, rear, and upon both flanks! They instantly 
poured in a close discharge of rifles, and then throwing down their guns, fell upon the sur¬ 
vivors with the tomahawk! The panic was complete, and the slaughter prodigious. Maj. 
Rodgers, together with forty-five others of his men, were quickly destroyed. The survivors 
made an effort to regain their boats, but the five men who had been left in charge of them, 
had immediately put off from shore in the hindmost boat, and the enemy had already 
gained possession of the others. Disappointed in the attempt, they turned furiously upon 
the enemy, and aided by the approach of darkness, forced their way through their lines, 
and with the loss of several severely wounded, at length affected their escape to Harrods- 
burgh. 

Among the wounded was Captain Robert Benham. Shortly after breaking through the 
enemy’s line he was shot through both hips, and the bones being shattered, he fell to the 
ground. Fortunately, a large tree had lately fallen near the spot where he lay, and with 
great pain, he dragged himself into the top, and lay concealed among the branches. The 
Indians eager in pursuit of the others, passed him without notice, and by midnight all was 
quiet. On the following day, the Indians returned to the battle-ground, in order to strip 
the dead and take care of the boats. Benham, although in danger of famishing, permitted 
them to pass without making known his condition, very correctly supposing that his crippled 
legs would only induce them to tomahawk him upon the spot in order to avoid the trouble 
of carrying him to their town. He lay close, therefore, until the evening of the second day, 
when perceiving a raccoon descending a tree, near him, he shot it, hoping to devise some 
means of reaching it, when he could kindle a fire and make a meal. Scarcely had his gun 
cracked, however, when he heard a human cry, apparently not more than fifty yards off. 
Supposing it to be an Indian, he hastily reloaded his gun, and remained silent, expecting 
the approach of an enemy. Presently the same voice was heard again, but much nearer. 
Still Benham made no reply, but cocked his gun and sat ready to fire as soon as an object 
appeared. A third halloo was quickly heard, followed by an exclamation of impatience 
and distress, which convinced Benham that the unknown must be a Kentuckian. As soon, 
therefore, as he heard the expression, “ whoever you are—for God’s sake answer me!” he 
replied with readiness, and the parties were soon together. Benham, as we have already 
observed, was shot through both legs ! the man who now appeared, had escaped from the 
same battle, with both arms broken ! Thus each was enabled to supply what the other 
wanted. Benham having the perfect use of his arms, could load his gun and kill game 
with great readiness, while his friend having the use of his legs, could kick the game to the 
spot where Benham sat, who was thus enabled to cook it. When no wood was near them, 
his companion would rake up brush with his feet, and gradually roll it within reach of Ben- 
ham’s hands, who constantly fed his companion, and dressed his wounds, as well as his 
own—tearing up both of their shirts for that purpose. They found some difficulty in pro¬ 
curing water at first, but Benham at length took his own hat, and placing the rim between 
the teeth of his companion, directed him to wade into the Licking, up to his neck, and dip 
the hat into the water (by sinking his own head.) The man who could walk, was thus 
enabled to bring water, by means of his teeth, which Benham could afterwards dispose of 
as was necessary. 

In a few days they had killed all the squirrels and birds within reach, and the man with 
the broken arms was sent out to drive game within gunshot of the spot to which Benham 
was confined. Fortunately, wild turkeys were abundant in those woods, and his compan¬ 
ion would walk around and drive them towards Benham, who seldom failed to kill two or 
three of each flock. In this manner they supported themselves for several weeks, until 
their wounds had healed, so as to enable them to travel. They then shifted their quarters, 
and put up a small shed at the mouth of Licking, where they encamped until late in No¬ 
vember, anxiously expecting the arrival of some boat, which should convey them to the 
falls of Ohio. 

On the 27th of November, they observed a flat boat moving leisurely down the river. 
Benham hoisted his hat upon a stick and hallooed loudly for help. The crew, however, 
supposing them to be Indians—at least suspecting them of an intention to decoy them 
ashore, paid no attention to their signals of distress, but instantly put over to the opposite 
side of the river, and manning every oar, endeavored to pass them as rapidly as possible. 
Benham beheld them pass him with a sensation bordering on despair, for the place was 
much frequented by Indians, and the approach of winter threatened them with destruction, 
unless speedily relieved. At length, after the boat had passed him nearly half a mile, he 
saw a canoe put off from its stern, and cautiously approached the Kentucky shore, evidently 
reconnoitering them with great suspicion. He called loudly upon them for assistance, 
mentioned his name, and made known his condition. After a long parley, and many evi- 


500 


WARREN COUNTY. 


dences of reluctance on the part of the crew, the canoe at length touched the shore, and 
Benham and his friend were taken on board. Their appearance excited much suspicion. 
They were almost entirely naked, and their faces were garnished with six weeks’ growth 
of beard. The one was barely able to hobble upon crutches, and the other could manage 
to feed himself with one of his hands. They were taken to Louisville, where their clothes 
(which had been carried off in the boat which deserted them) were restored to them, and 
after a few weeks confinement, both were perfectly restored. 

Benham afterwards served in the northwest throughout the whole of the Indian war— 
accompanied the expeditions of Harmar and Wilkinson—shared in the disaster of St. Clair, 
and afterwards in the triumph of Wayne. 



Broadway , Lebanon. 

Lebanon, the county seat, is 28 miles ne. of Cincinnati, 80 sw. 
of Columbus, and 22 s. of Dayton, in a beautiful and fertile coun¬ 
try. Turnpikes connect it with Cincinnati, Dayton, and Colum¬ 
bus. It is also connected with Middletown, 19 miles distant, by the 
Warren county canal, which, commencing here, unites there with 
the Miami canal. 

This vicinity was first settled in the spring of 1796, by Henry 
Taylor, who built a mill one mile west, on Turtle Creek. ” Shortly 
after, Ichabod Corwin, John Osbourn, Jacob Yorhees, Samuel Shaw, 
Daniel Bonte, and a Mr. Manning, settled near him. Lebanon was 
laid out in the fall of 1803, by Ichabod Corwin, Ephraim Hathaway, 
and Silas Hurin. Then one house was on its site, a two story log 
dwelling, built in 1797, by Ichabod Corwin, which stood on Broad¬ 
way, opposite the present residence of Mr. Edwin A. Wilds. When 
the town was laid out, this was occupied as a tavern by Ephraim 
Hathaway, under the sign of a black horse , and continued a place 
of “ entertainment” for travellers until about 1810. A store was 
also opened in this building in the summer of 1803, by John Huston. 
Justice as well as food and clothing, was for a time dispensed there, 
—the act forming the county, making this the place for holding 
courts, which it continued to be for about three years, when the first 
court house, now used as a town hall, was built. Among the early 
settlers of Lebanon, are recollected the names of Wm. Ferguson, 
Daniel F. Reeder, John Adams, Joshua Hollingsworth, John Prill, 
Peter Yauger, Samuel M’Crea, David Corwin, Richard Cunningham’ 
Wm. R. Goodwin, and Judge Joshua Collet, the first lawyer in the 
county. In 1806 the Western Star, then a Jeffersonian paper, and 
now continued, was established by Judge John M’Lane. Lebanon 

















WARREN COUNTY. 


501 


is the present residence of Hon. Thomas Corwin. In 1810 the town 
was incorporated. 

The Little Miami railroad runs four miles east of Lebanon, to which 
it is contemplated to construct a branch. The Warren county canal 
is supplied by a reservoir of 30 or 40 acres n. of the town. Leba¬ 
non is regularly laid out in squares, and compactly built. It contains 
1 Presbyterian, 1 Cumberland Presbyterian, 2 Baptist, 1 Episcopal 
Methodist, and 1 Prot. do. church, 2 printing offices, 9 dry goods 
and 6 grocery stores, 1 grist and 2 saw mills, 1 woollen manufactory, 
a classical academy for both sexes, and had in 1840, 1,327 inhab¬ 
itants. 

The late Judge Francis Dunlavy, who died at Lebanon, in 1839, was bom in Virginia, 
in 1761. When ten years of age his father’s family removed to western Pennsylvania. At 
the early age of 14 years he served in a campaign against the Indians, and continued mostly 
in this service until the close of the revolution. He assisted in building Fort M’Intosh, 
about the year 1777, and was afterwards in the disastrous defeat of Crawford, from whence* 
with two others, he made his way alone through the woods without provisions, to Pitts¬ 
burgh. In '87 he removed to Kentucky, in ’91 to Columbia, and in ’97 to this neighborhood. 
By great perseverance he acquired a good education, mainly without instructors, and part 
of the time taught school and surveyed land until the year 1800. He was returned a 
member of the convention from Hamilton county which formed the state constitution. 
He was also a member of the first legislature in 1803, at the first organization of the judi¬ 
ciary was appointed presiding judge of the first circuit. This place he held 14 years, and 
though his circuit embraced 10 counties, he never missed a court, frequently swimming his 
horse over the Miamies rather than fail being present. On leaving the bench he practiced 
at the bar 15 years, and then retired to his books and study. He was a strong-minded 
philanthropic man, of great powers of memory, and a most useful member of society. 

The Hon. Jeremiah Morrow resides in the southern part of the 
county. He was a member of the convention which formed the 
state constitution, a representative in congress at various times, a 
member the United States’ senate from 1813 to 1319, and governor 
of Ohio from 1822 to 1826. His highness the Duke of Saxe Weimar, 
who was in this country in 1825, gives in his travels a pleasant de¬ 
scription of the then chief magistrate of the state. 

The dwelling of the governor consists of a plain frame house, situated on a little eleva¬ 
tion not far from the shore of the Little Miami, and is entirely surrounded by fields. The 
business of the state calls him once a month to Columbus, the seat of government, and the 
remainder of his time he passes at his country seat, occupied with farming, a faithful copy 
of an ancient Cincinnatus; he was engaged at our arrival in cutting a wagon pole, but he 
immediately stopped his work to give us a hearty welcome. He appeared to be about fifty 
years of age ; is not tall, but thin and strong, and has an expressive physiognomy, with 
dark and animated eyes. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and was one of the first settlers 
in the state of Ohio. He offered us a night’s lodging at his house, which invitation we 
accepted very thankfully. When seated round the chimney fire in the evening, he related 

to us a great many of the dangers and difficulties the first settlers had to contend with. 

We spent our evening with the governor and his lady. Their children are settled, and they 
have with them only a couple of grandchildren. When we took our seats at supper, the 
governor made a prayer. There was a bible and several religious books lying on the table. 
After breakfasting with our hospitable host, we took our leave. 

Union village, 4 miles w. of Lebanon, is a settlement of Shakers, 
or as they call themselves, “the United Society of Believers.” They 
came here about the year 1805, and now number near 400 souls. 
The village extends about a mile on one street. The houses and 
shops are very large, many of them brick, and all in a high degree 
neat and substantial. They are noted for the cleanliness and strict 



502 


WARREN COUNTY. 



propriety of conduct characteristic of the sect elsewhere, and take 
no part in politics or military affairs, keeping themselves completely 
aloof from the world, only so far as is necessary to dispose of their 
garden seeds and other products of agriculture and articles of me¬ 
chanical skill. They own here about 3000 acres of land, and hold 
all their property in common. 


Shakers Dancing. 

The community are divided into five families, each family having 
an eating-room and kitchen. A traveller thus describes their cere¬ 
monies at the table. 

Two long tables were covered on each side of the room, behind the tables were benches, 
and in the midst of the room was a cupboard. At a signal given with a horn, the brothers 
entered the door to the right, and the sisters the one to the left, marching two and two to 
the table. The sisters in waiting, to the number of six, came at the same time from the 
kitchen, and ranged themselves in one file opposite the table off the. sisters ; after which, 
they all fell on their knees, making a silent prayer, then arose, took hold of the benches be¬ 
hind them, sat down and took their meal in the greatest silence. I was told this manner was 
observed at all their daily meals. They eat bread, butter and cakes, and drank tea. Each 
member found his cup filled before him—the serving sisters filling them when required. 
One of the sisters was standing at the cupboard to pour out the tea—the meal was very 
short, the whole society rose at once, the benches were put back, they fell again on their 
knees, rose again, and wheeling to the right, left the room with a quick step. I remarked 
among the females some very pretty faces, but they were all, without exception, of a pale 
and sickly hue. They were disfigured by their ugly costume, which consists of a white 
starched bonnet. The men likewise had bad complexions. 

Franklin is 10 miles nw. of Lebanon, on the Dayton and Cincin¬ 
nati turnpike, with the Miami canal running east of it, and the Miami 
river bounding it on the west. It was laid out in 1795, a few months 
after the treaty of Greenville, within Symmes’ purchase, by its pro¬ 
prietors, two young men from New Jersey, Daniel C. Cooper and 
Wm. C. Schenck, father of the Hon. Robt. Schenck. The first cabin 
was built by them, on or near lot 21 Front street. In the spring of 
*96, six or eight cabins stood on the town plot. A church, common 




































































































WARREN COUNTY. 


503 


for all denominations, on the site of the Baptist church, was the first 
erected; it was built about the year 1808. 



View in Franklin. 


The town is on a level plot, and regularly laid out. The view 
shows on the right the Methodist church, next to it, merchants’ block, 
beyond the Baptist church, and on the extreme left, the spire of the 
Presbyterian church. Franklin contains 3 churches, a high school, 
4 dry goods and 2 grocery stores, 2 forwarding and commission 
houses, and had in 1840, 770 inhabitants. 

Waynesville is 9 miles ne. of Lebanon, on the Cincinnati and 
Columbus turnpike. This place was laid out in 1802, by Samuel 
Highway, for himself and others. This vicinity was first settled in 
1796, by Mr. Highway, Dr. E. Baine and others. Its first settlers 
were Friends, who now comprise a large part of its population. 
About a quarter of a mile east of the village runs the Little Miami 
railroad. From near this road the town, which lies principally upon 
a side hill, shows to great advantage. Within a few years past, 
Waynesville has taken a start, and is now a thriving business town, 
containing 2 Friends’ meeting-house, 1 Methodist church, 4 mercan¬ 
tile stores, 2 flouring and 2 saw mills, 1 woollen and 1 last factory, 
and had in 1840, 427 inhabitants, since which it has nearly doubled 
in population. 

About 6 miles east of Lebanon, on the Little Miami river, is a very 
extensive ancient fortification, called Fort Ancient. The extreme 
length of these works, in a direct line, is nearly a mile, although, fol¬ 
lowing their angles—retreating and salient—they reach probably 
a distance of six miles. The drawing and description annexed 
are from the article of Caleb Atwater, Esq., in the Archseologia 
Americana. 

The fortification stands on a plain, nearly horizontal, about 236 feet above the level of 
the river, between two branches with very steep and deep banks. The openings in the 
walls are the gateways. The plain extends eastward along the state road, nearly level. 




































504 


WARREN COUNTY. 



about half a mile. The fortification on all sides, except on the east and west where the 
road runs, is surrounded with precipices nearly in the shape of the wall. The wall on the 
inside varies in its height, according to the shape of the ground on the outside, being gene¬ 
rally from eight to ten feet; but on the plain, it is about nineteen and a half feet high inside 
and out, on a base of four and a half poles. In a few places it appears to be washed away 
in gutters, made by water collecting on the inside. 

At about twenty poles east from the gate, through which the state road runs, are two 
mounds, about ten feet eight inches high, the road running between them nearly equi¬ 
distant from each. From these mounds are gutters running nearly north and south, that 
appear to be artificial, and made to communicate with the branches on each side. North¬ 
east from the mounds, on the plain, are two roads, B, each about one pole wide, elevated 


Fort Ancient. 

about three feet, and which run nearly parallel, about one-fourth of a mile, and then form 
an irregular semicircle round a small mound. Near the southwest end of the fortification 
are three circular roads, A, between thirty and forty poles in length, cut out of the preci¬ 
pice between the wall and the river. The wall is made of earth. 

Many conjectures have been made as to the design of the authors in erecting a work with 
no less than 58 gateways. Several of these openings have evidently been occasioned by 
the water, which had been collected on the inside until it overflowed the walls and wore 
itself a passage. In several other places the walls might never have been completed. 

The three parallel roads, A, dug, at a great expense of labor, into the rocks and rocky 
soil adjacent, and parallel to the Little Miami river, appear to have been designed for per¬ 
sons to stand on, who wished to annoy those who were passing up and down the river. 




WASHINGTON COUNTY. 


505 


The Indians, as I have been informed, made this use of these roads in their wars with each 
other and with the whites. Whether these works all belong to the same era and the same 
people, I cannot say, though the general opinion is that they do. On the whole, I have 
ventured to class them among “ Ancient Fortifications,” to which they appear to have 
higher claims than almost any other, for reasons too apparent to require a recital. 

The two parallel lines, B, are two roads very similar to modern turnpikes, and are made 
to suit the nature of the soil and make of the ground. If the roads were for foot races, the 
mounds were the goals from whence the pedestrians started, or around which they ran. 
The area which these parallel walls enclose, smoothed by art, might have been the place 
where games were celebrated. We cannot say that these works were designed for such 
purposes; but we can say, that similar works were thus used among the early inhabitants 
of Greece and Rome. 

Harveysburg, so named from George Harvey, who laid it out about 
30 years since, is a flourishing town, 13 miles ne. of Lebanon, and 
contains 2 Friends’ meeting-houses, 1 United Brethren and 1 Metho¬ 
dist church, 1 classical academy, 5 dry goods stores, and about 500 
inhabitants. Springboro’, 9 n. of Lebanon, has 1 Friends’ meeting¬ 
house and 1 Universalist church, 4 stores, 2 grist mills, and about 90 
dwellings. Palmyra, 8 sw. of Lebanon, on the Cincinnati turnpike, 
has 1 Methodist and 1 Universalist church, 4 stores, and about 70 
dwellings. Deerfield, Roachester, Butlersville, Morrow, Ridgeville 
and Yankeetown, are villages, the largest of which may contain 350 
inhabitants. 


WASHINGTON. 

Washington was formed July 27th, 1788, by proclamation of Gov. 
St. Clair, being the first county formed within the limits of Ohio. Its 
original boundaries were as follows : “ Beginning on the bank of the 
Ohio river, where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses 
it, and running with that line to Lake Erie; thence along the 
southern shore of said lake to the mouth of Cuyahoga river: thence 
up the said river to the portage between it and the Tuscarawas 
branch of the Muskingum; thence down that branch to the forks, 
at the crossing place above Fort Laurens; thence with a line to be 
drawn westerly to the portage, on that branch of the Big Miami, on 
which the fort stood that was taken by the French in 1752, until it 
meets the road from the lower Shawnese town to Sandusky ; thence 
south to the Scioto river, and thence with that river to the mouth, 
and thence up the Ohio river to the place of beginning.” The sur¬ 
face is generally hilly and broken, excepting the broad strips of allu¬ 
vial land on the Ohio and Muskingum. In the middle and western 

f jart are extensive tracts of fertile land. The uplands near the 
arge streams are commonly broken, but well adapted to pasturage. 
The principal products are corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, dairy pro¬ 
ducts, fruit and wool. The following is a list of its townships in 
1840, with their population. 


64 



508 

Adams, 791 

WASHINGTON COUNTY* 

Independence, 335 

Roxbury, 

1225 

Aurelius, 886 

Jolly, 

582 

Salem, 

881 

Barlow, 880 

Ludlow, 

539 

Union, 

888 

Belpre, 1296 

Decatur, 439 

Lawrence, 

571 

Warren, 

931 

Liberty, 

515 

Waterford, 

1166 

Fearington,1019 

Marietta, 

2689 

Watertown, 

1128 

Grandview, 514 

Newport, 

1678 

Wesley, 

991 

The population 

of Washington 

in 1820, 

was 10,425 ; 

in 1830, 


11,731, and in 1840, 20,694, or 31 inhabitants to a square mile. 

This county was the first settled in Ohio, and under the auspices 
of the New England Ohio company. Its early settlers were from 
New England, the descendants of whom constitute the larger share 
of its present population. 



Fort Harmar. 


In the autumn of 1785, a detachment of United States troops, un¬ 
der the command of Maj. John Doughty, commenced the erection, 
and the next year completed Fort Harmar, on the right bank of the 
Muskingum, at its junction with the Ohio. It was named in honor 
of Col. Josiah Harmar, to whose regiment Maj. Doughty was at¬ 
tached. It was the first military post erected by Americans within 
the limits of Ohio, excepting Fort Laurens, built in 1778. (See p. 485.) 
The outlines of the fort formed a regular pentagon, embracing 
within the area about three-quarters of an acre. Its walls were 
formed of large horizontal timbers, and the bastions of large upright 
timbers, of about 14 feet in height, fastened to each other by strips 
of timber tree-nailed into each picket. In its rear, Maj. Doughty 
laid out fine gardens. It continued to be occupied by United States 
troops until September, 1790, when they were ordered to Cincin¬ 
nati. A company under Capt. Haskell continued to make the fort 
their head-quarters during the Indian war, sending out occasionally 
small detachments to assist the colonists at Marietta, Belpre and 






WASHINGTON COUNTY. 


507 


Waterford, in guarding their garrisons against the Indians. The 
barracks and houses not needed for the accommodation of the 
troops, were occupied by the inhabitants living at Marietta, on the 
opposite side of the Muskingum. 

In the autumn of 1787, the directors of the Ohio company organi¬ 
zed in New England, preparatory to a settlement. Upon the 23d 
of November, they made arrangements for a party of 47 men to set 
forward under the superintendence of Gen. Rufus Putnam ; and not 
long after, in the course of the winter, they started on their toilsome 
journey. Some of these, as well as most of those who followed 
them to the colony, had served in the war of the revolution, either 
as officers or soldiers, being men who had spent the prime of their 
lives in the struggle for liberty. 

“ During the winter of 1787-8, these men were pressing on over the 
Alleghanies by the old Indian path which had been opened into 
Braddock’s road, and which has since been followed by the national 
turnpike from Cumberland westward. Through the dreary winter 
days they trudged on, and by April were all gathered on the Yohio- 
gany, where boats had been built, and started for the Muskingum. 
On the 7th of April they landed at the spot chosen, and became the 
founders of Ohio, unless we regard as such the Moravian missiona¬ 
ries. 

“ As St. Clair, who had been appointed governor the preceding 
October, had not yet arrived, it became necessary to erect a tem¬ 
porary government for their internal security; for which purpose a 
set of laws was passed, and published by being nailed to a tree in 
the village, and Return Jonathan Meigs was appointed to admin¬ 
ister them. It is a strong evidence of the good habits of the people 
of the colony, that during three months, but one difference occurred, 
and that was compromised. Indeed, a better set of men altogether, 
could scarce have been selected for the purpose, than Putnam’s little 
band. Washington might well say, ‘no colony in America was 
ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which was first 
commenced at the Muskingum. Information, property and strength, 
will be its characteristics. I know many of the settlers personally, 
and there never were men better calculated to promote the welfare 
of such a community.’ 

“ On the 2d of July, a meeting of the directors and agents was 
held on the banks of the Muskingum, for the purpose of naming the 
new-born city and its public squares. As the settlement had been 
merely ‘ The Muskingum,’ the name Marietta was now formally 
given to it, in honor of Marie Antoniette. 

“ On the 4th of July, an oration was delivered by James M. Var- 
num, who, with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong, had been ap¬ 
pointed to the judicial bench of the territory, on the 16th of October, 
1787. Five days later, the governor arrived and the colony began 
to assume form. The ordinance of 1787, provided two district grades 
of government for the northwest territory, under the first of which 
the whole power was in the hands of the governor and three judges, 


508 


WASHINGTON COUNTY. 


I 


and this form was at once organized upon the governor’s arrival. 
The first law, which was ‘for regulating and establishing the mili¬ 
tia,’was published upon the 25th of July; and the next day, ap¬ 
peared the governor’s proclamation, erecting all the country that 
had been ceded by the Indians east of the Scioto river into the 
county of Washington. 

“ From that time forward, notwithstanding the doubt yet exist¬ 
ing as to the Indians, all at Marietta went on prosperously and 
pleasantly. On the 2d of September, the first court was held, with 
becoming ceremonies,”* which was the first civil court ever con¬ 
vened in the territory northwest of the Ohio. 

“ The procession was formed at the Point, (where most of the settlers resided,) in the 
following order:—1st, The high sheriff, with his drawn sword ; 2d, the citizens ; 3d, the 
officers of the garrison at Fort Harmar ; 4th, the members of the bar; 5th, the supreme 
judges ; 6th, the governor and clergyman ; 7th, the newly appointed judges of the court of 
common pleas. Generals Rufus Putnam and Benj. Tupper. 

“ They marched up a path that had been cut and cleared through the forest to Campus 
Martius Hall, (stockade,) where the whole counter-marched, and the judges, (Putnam and 
Tupper,) took their seats. The clergyman, Rev. Dr. Cutler, then invoked the divine 
blessing. The sheriff, Col. Ebenezer Sproat, (one of nature’s nobles,) proclaimed with his 
solemn ‘ 0 yes,’ that a court is opened for the administration of even-handed justice to the 
poor and the rich, to the guilty and the innocent, without respect of persons ; none to be 
punished without atrial by their peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and evidence in the 
case.’ Although this scene was exhibited thus early in the settlement of the state, few 
ever equalled it in the dignity and exalted character of its principal participators. Many 
of them belong to the history of our country, in the darkest as well as most splendid pe¬ 
riods of the revolutionary war. To witness this spectacle, a large body of Indians was 
collected, from the most powerful tribes then occupying the almost entire west. They had 
assembled for the purpose of making a treaty. Whether any of them entered the hall of 
justice, or what were their impressions, we are not told.”+ 

“ The progress of the settlement, [says a letter from the Musk¬ 
ingum,] is sufficiently rapid for the first year. We are continually 
erecting houses, but arrivals are faster than we can possibly pro¬ 
vide convenient covering. Our first ball was opened about the mid¬ 
dle of December, at which were fifteen ladies, as well accomplished 
in the manners of polite circles as any I have ever seen in the old 
states. I mention this to show the progress of society in this new 
world ; where, I believe, we shall vie with, if not excel, the old 
states, in every accomplishment necessary to render life agreeable 
and happy.” 

Soon after the landing, preparations were made to build the stock¬ 
aded fort, Campus Martius, to which allusion has already been made; 
and although it was begun in the course of that year, it was not 
entirely completed with palisades and outworks, or bastions, until the 
winter of 1791. 

The walls formed a regular parallelogram, the sides of which were 180 feet each. At 
each corner was erected a strong block-house, surmounted by a tower and sentry box. 
These houses were 20 feet square below and 24 feet above, and projected 6 feet beyond the 
curtains, or main walls of the fort. The intermediate curtains were built up with dwelling 
houses, made of wood, whip-sawed into timbers four inches thick, and of the requisite 
width and length. These were laid up similar to the structure of log houses, with the ends 
nicely dove-tailed or fitted together so as to make a neat finish. The whole were two 


* Annals of the West. 


t Dr. S. P. Hildreth, in the American Pioneer. 



WASHINGTON COUNTY, 


509 


stories high, and covered with good shingle roofs. Convenient chimneys were erected of 
bricks, for cooking and warming the rooms. A number of the dwelling houses were built 
and owned by private individuals, who had families. In the west and south fronts were 



Campus Martius in 1791. 


strong gateways; and over that, in the centre of the front looking to the Muskingum 
river, was a belfry. The chamber underneath was occupied by the Hon. Winthrop Sar¬ 
gent, as an office, he being secretary to the governor of the N. W. Territory, General St. 
Clair, and performing the duties of governor in his absence. This room projected over the 
gateway, like a block-house, and was intended for the protection of the gate beneath in 
time of an assault. At the outer corner of each block-house was erected a bastion, stand¬ 
ing on four stout timbers. The floor of the bastion was a little above the lower story of * 
the block-house. They were square, and built up with thick planks to the height of a 
man’s head, so that when he looked over he stepped on a narrow platform, or “ banquet,” 
running round the sides of the bulwark. Port-holes were made for musketry, as well a3 
for artillery, a single piece of which was mounted in the southwest and northeast bastions. 

In these the sentries were regularly posted every night, as more convenient of access than 
the towers ; a door leading into them from the upper story of the block-houses. The lower 
room of the southwest block-house was occupied for a guard-house. Running from corner 
to comer of the block-houses was a row of palisades, sloping outwards, and resting on 
stout rails. Twenty feet in advance of these was a row of very strong and large pickets, 
set upright in the earth. Gateways through these admitted the inmates of the garrison. 

A few feet beyond the outer palisades was placed a row of abattis, made from the tops and 
branches of trees, sharpened and pointing outwards, so that it would have been very difficult 
for an enemy to have penetrated even within their outworks. The dwelling houses occu¬ 
pied a space from 15 to 30 feet each, and were sufficient for the accommodation of forty 
or fifty families, and did actually contain from 200 to 300 persons, men, women and chil¬ 
dren, during the Indian war. 

Before the Indians commenced hostilities, the block-houses were occupied as follows :— / 
the southwest one by the family of Gov. St. Clair; the northwest one for public worship 
and holding of courts. The southeast block-house was occupied by private families; and 
the northeast as an office for the accommodation of the directors of the company. Tb®- 
area within the walls was 144 feet square, and afforded a fine parade-ground. In the centre 
was a well, 80 feet in depth, for the supply of water to the inhabitants in case of a siege. 

A large sun-dial stood for many years in the square, placed on a handsome post, and gave 
note of the march of time. It is still preserved as a relic of the old garrison. 

After the war commenced, a regular military corps was organized, and a guard con¬ 
stantly kept night and day. The whole establishment formed a very strong work, and re¬ 
flected great credit on the head that planned it. It was in a manner impregnable to the 
attacks of Indians, and none but a regular army with cannon could have reduced it. It 
is true, that the heights across the Muskingum commanded and looked down upon the de¬ 
fences of the fort; but there was no enemy in a condition to take possession of this ad¬ 
vantage. 












510 


WASHINGTON COUNTY, 


The garrison stood on the verge of that beautiful plain overlooking the Muskingum, on 
which are seated those celebrated remains of antiquity ; and erected probably for a similar 
purpose, the defence of the inhabitants. The ground descends into shallow ravines on the 
north and south sides ; on the west is an abrupt descent to the river bottoms, or alluvions ; 
and the east passed out on to the level plain. On this the ground was cleared of trees be¬ 
yond the reach of rifle shots, so as to afford no shelter to a hidden foe. Extensive fields of 
corn were growing in the midst of the standing girdled trees beyond. The front wall 
of the garrison was about 150 yards from the Muskingum river. The appearance of the 
fort from without was grand and imposing ; at a little distance resembling one of the mili¬ 
tary palaces or castles of the feudal ages. Between the outer palisades and the river were 
laid out neat gardens for the use of Gov. St. Clair and his secretary, with the officers of 
the company. 

Opposite the fort, on the shore of the river, was built a substantial timber wharf, at which 
was moored a fine cedar barge for twelve rowers, built by Capt. Jonathan Devoll, for Gen. 
Putnam; a number of pirogues, and the light canoes of the country ; and last, not least, 
“ the May-Flower,” or “ Adventure Galley,” in which the first detachment of colonists 
were transported from the shores of the Yohiogany to the banks of the Muskingum. In 
these, especially the canoes, during the war, most of the communications were carried on 
between the settlements of the company and the more remote towns above on the Ohio 
river. Travelling by land was very hazardous to any but the rangers, or spies. There 
were no roads nor bridges across the creeks, and for many years after the war had ceased, 
the travelling was nearly all done by canoes on the rivers.* 

The names of the early settlers who came the first season to Ma¬ 
rietta, as far as recollected, were as follows: 

Of the agents, were Gen. Putnam, Winthrop Sargeant, secretary of the territory. 
Judges Parsons and Varnum of the settlers, Capt. Dana, Capt. Jonathan Devol, Joseph 
Barker, Col. Battelle, Major Tyler, Dr. True, Capt. William Gray, Capt. Lunt, the Bridges, 
Ebenezer and Thomas Cory, Andrew M’Clure, Wm. Mason, Thomas Lord, Wm. Gridley, 
Gilbert Devol, Moody, Russels, Deavens, Oakes, Wright, Clough, Green, Shipman, Dor- 
rance, the Maxons, Wells, &c. The first boat of families arrived on the 19th of August, 
in the same season, consisting of Gen. Tuppers, Col. Ichabod Nye, Col. Cushings, Major 
Coburn’s, and Major Goodale’s. 

In the spring of 1789, settlements were pushed out to Belpre, Waterford, and Duck 
Creek, where they began to clear and plant the land, build houses and stockades. Among 
the first settlers at Waterford, were Benjamin Convers, Gilbert Devol, sen., Phineas Co¬ 
burn, Wm. Gray, Col. Robert Oliver, Major Hatfield White, Andrew Story, Samuel Cush¬ 
ing, John Dodge, Allen and Gideon Devol, George, William, and David Wilson, Joshua 
Sprague, with his sons William and Jonathan, Capt. D. Davis, Phineas Coburn, Andrew 
Webster, Eben Ayres, Dr. Farley, David Brown, A. Kelly, James and Daniel Convers. 

At Belpre, (the French for “ beautiful meadow”) were three stockades, the upper, lower, 
and middle ; the last of which was called “ farmer’s castle,” which stood on the banks of 
the Ohio, nearly, if not quite, opposite the beautiful island, since known as “ Blannerhassets,” 
the scene of “ Burr’s conspiracy.” Among the persons at the upper, were Capt. Dana, 
Capt. Stone, Col. Bent, Wm. Browning, Judge Foster, John Rowse, Mr. Keppel, Israel 
Stone. At farmer’s castle, were Col. Cushing, Major Haskel, Aaron Waldo Putnam, Col. 
Fisher, Mr. Sparhawk, and it is believed George and Israel Putnam, jr. At the lower, 
were Major Goodale, Col. Rice, Esq. Pierce, Judge Israel Loring, Deacon Miles, Major 
Bradford, and Mr. Goodenow. In the summer of 1789, Col. Ichabod Nye and some others 
built a block-house at Newberry, below Belprie. Mr. Nye sold his lot there to Aaron N. 
Clough, who, with Stephen Guthrie, Jos. Leavins, Joel Oakes, Eleazer Curtis, Mr. Denham, 
J. Littleton, and a Mr. Brown, were located at that place during the subsequent Indian war. 

Every exertion possible for men in these circumstances, was made to secure food and 
prepare for future difficulties. Col. Oliver, Major Hatfield White, and John Dodge, of the 
Waterford settlement, began mills on Wolf Creek, about three miles from the fort, and got 
them running; and these, the first mills in Ohio, were never destroyed during the subse¬ 
quent Indian war, though the proprietors removed their families to the fort at Marietta. 
Col. E. Sproat and Enoch Shephard, began mills on Duck Creek, three miles from Mari¬ 
etta, from the completion of which they were driven by the Indian war. Thomas Stanley 
began mills higher up, near the Duck Creek settlement; these were likewise unfinished. 


* The engravings of Fort Harmar and Campus Mardus, together with the accompanying 
descriptions, are from the communications of Dr. S. P. Hildreth, in the Am. Pioneer. 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 511 

The Ohio company built a large horse mill near Campus Martius, and soon after, a floating 
mill. * 

During the Indian war, which soon succeeded the first settlements, 
the inhabitants suffered much for the necessaries of life. Although 
some of the settlers were killed, and others carried into captivity, 
yet the massacre at Big Bottom, (see p. 377,) was the most alarming 
event. The escape of the settlers from greater suffering from this 
source, was owing to the strong fortifications erected, and the admi¬ 
rable judgment and foresight they displayed in taking precautions 
against danger. Among the incidents connected with the troubles 
with the Indians, to which we have barely space to allude, was the 
taking prisoner at Waterford, of Daniel Convers, (then a lad of 16, 
now of Zanesville,) who was carried to Detroit, the murder of Warth 
while at work near Fort Harmar: the taking prisoner of Major Good- 
ale, of Belpre, who was, it is supposed, murdered ; the death of Capt. 
Rogers, who was out with Mr. Henderson, as a spy, and was killed 
near the Muskingum, about a mile from Marietta; the death of a 
Mr. Waterman, near Waterford, and the narrow escape of Return 
J. Meigs, into Fort Harmar, by his fleetness of foot, while pursued by 
the enemy. On the other hand retaliation was in a measure inflicted 
upon the Indians, and among those most active in this duty was Ham¬ 
ilton Carr, a man eminently distinguished as an Indian hunter and 
spy. During the war a stockade was erected near the mouth of 
Olive Green Creek, above Waterford, which became the frontier 
garrison, and had in it about seven or eight men and boys able to 
bear arms. Just before Wayne’s victory, Aug. 4th, 1794, they lost 
one man, a Mr. Abel Sherman, who went into the woods incautiously, 
and was killed by the Indians. A tomb-stone with a scalped head 
rudely carved upon it, marks the spot where he lies. 

Among the inmates of this garrison was Geo. Ewing, esq., father of the Hon. Thomas 
Ewing. His fortune and history were similar to that of many of the revolutionary officers 
who emigrated to the west at that early day. He inherited a handsome patrimony and sold 
it, investing the proceeds in bonds and mortgages, and entered the continental army as a 
subaltern officer in 1775, he being then but little over 21 years of age. He continued to 
serve, with a few short intermissions, during the war. When the bonds fell due, they were 
paid in continental money, which, proving worthless, reduced him to poverty. In 1785, he 
migrated to the west, and remained on the Virginia side of the Ohio until 1792, when he 
crossed over and settled at Olive Green. 

From the communication of one of the early settlers at Olive 
Green, we annex some facts respecting their privations and the dis¬ 
covery of a salt well. 

The inhabitants had among them but few of what we consider the necessaries and con¬ 
veniences of life. Brittle wares, such as earthen and glass, were wholly unknown, and but 
little of the manufactories of steel and iron, both of which were exceedingly dear. Iron and 
salt were procured in exchange for ginseng and peltry, and carried on pack horses from Ft. 
Cumberland or Chambersburg. It was no uncommon thing for the garrison to be wholly 
without salt for months, subsisting upon fresh meat, milk and vegetables, and bread made 
of corn pounded in a mortar—they did not yet indulge in the luxury of the hand-mill. 

There had been an opinon, founded upon the information of the Indians, that there were 


* From the “ Reminiscences of the First Settlement of Ohio,” by Horace Nye, published 
in the Western Recorder. 



512 


WASHINGTON COUNTY. 


salt springs in the neighborhood, but the spot was carefully concealed. Shortly after 
Wayne’s victory, in 1794, and after the inhabitants had left the garrison and gone to their 
farms, a white man, who had been long a prisoner with the Indians, was released and re¬ 
turned to the settlements. He stopped at Olive Green, and there gave an account of the 
salt springs, and directions for finding them. A party was immediately formed, (of whom 
George Ewing, jr., then a lad of 17, was one,) who, after an absence of 7 or 8 days, re¬ 
turned, to the great joy of the inhabitants, with about a gallon of salt, which they had 
made in their camp kettle. This was, as I think, in August, 1795. A supply, though a 
very small one, was made there that season for the use of the frontier settlement. 

Whether this salt spring was earlier known to the whites I am unable to say. It may 
have been so to spies and explorers, and perhaps to the early missionaries ; but this was the 
first discovery which was made available to the people. 



Marietta, the county seat, and the oldest town in Ohio, is on the 
left bank of the Muskingum, at its confluence with the Ohio, 104 miles 
se. of Columbus. It is built principally upon a level plot of ground, 
in the midst of most beautiful scenery. Many of the dwellings are 
constructed with great neatness, and embellished with handsome 
door-yards and highly cultivated gardens. Its inhabitants are mostly 
of New England descent, and there are few places in our country 
that can compare with this in point of morality and intelligence— 
but few of its size that have so many cultivated and literary men. 
Marietta contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Baptist, 1 Methodist, 
1 German do., 1 Universalist and 1 Catholic church; a male and 
female academy, in excellent repute ; a college, 2 public libraries, 
1 bank, 1 or 2 printing offices, a variety of mechanical and manufac- 






































MARIETTA COLLEGE, WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO. 



























































































































































































































































































































































































































































% 








\ 

















WASHINGTON COUNTY. 


513 


turing establishments, about 20 mercantile stores, and in 1840, had a 
population of 1814. 

Ship building, which was carried on very extensively at an early 
day, and then for a season abandoned, has again been commenced, 
and is now actively prosecuted. From the year 1800 to 1807, the 
business was very thriving. Com. Abm. Whipple, a veteran of the 
revolution, conducted the one first built, the St. Clair, to the ocean. 

At that time Marietta was made “ a port of clearance,” from which vessels could receive 
regular papers for a foreign country. “ This circumstance was the cause of a curious inci¬ 
dent, which took place in the year 1806 or 1807. A ship, built at Marietta, cleared from 
that port with a cargo of pork, flour, &c., for New Orleans. From thence she sailed to 
England with a load of cotton, and being chartered to take a cargo to St. Petersburg, the 
Americans being at that time carriers for half the world, reached that port in safety. Her 
papers being examined by a naval officer, and dating from the port of Marietta, Ohio, she 
was seized, upon the plea of their being a forgery, as no such port was known in the civil¬ 
ized world. With considerable difficulty the captain procured a map of the United States, 
and pointing with his finger to the mouth of the Mississippi, traced the course of that stream 
to the mouth of the Ohio ; from thence he led the astonished and admiring naval officer 
along the devious track of the latter river to the port of Marietta, at the mouth of the Musk¬ 
ingum, from whence he had taken his departure. This explanation was entirely satisfac¬ 
tory, and the American was dismissed with every token of regard and respect.” 

Marietta College was chartered in 1835. It was mainly estab¬ 
lished with a view to meet demands in the west for competent teach¬ 
ers and ministers of the gospel. The institution ranks high among 
others of the kind, and its officers of instruction are such as to merit 
the confidence of the enlightened patrons of thorough education. A 
new college edifice has lately been reared, and from the indications 
given, the prospects of the institution for a generous patronage are 
highly auspicious. The catalogue for 1846-7, gives the whole num¬ 
ber of students at 177, of whom 60 were undergraduates, and 117 
in the preparatory academy. The officers are Henry Smith, M. A., 
president; John Kendrick, M. A., J. Ward Andrews, M. A., and 
Hiram Bingham, M. A., professors; Samuel Maxwell, M. A., prin¬ 
cipal of the academy, and Geo. A. Rosseter, M. A., tutor. 

Among the early settlers of Marietta were many who merit ex¬ 
tended sketches; we have, however, but space for brief notices of a 
few of the more prominent. 

Rufus Putnam was born April 8th, 1738, O. S., at Sutton, Massachusetts. At the age 
of 15, he was apprenticed to a millwright, with whom he served four years, and then en¬ 
listed as a common soldier in the French and Indian war. He served faithfully three 
years, was engaged in several actions, and was at the time the army disbanded, in 1761, 
serving as ensign, to which office his good conduct had promoted him. After this, he 
resumed the business of millwright, at which he continued seven or eight years, employing 
his leisure in studying mathematics and surveying. 

He was among the first to take up arms in the revolutionary contest, and as an evidence 
of the estimation in which he was held, was appointed lieut. colonel. He was afterwards 
appointed, by congress, military engineer. He served throughout the war with honor, and 
was often consulted and held in high estimation by Washington. On the 8th of January, 
1783, he was honored with the commission of brigadier general, having some time pre¬ 
viously served as colonel. He was appointed by the Ohio company superintendent of all 
business relating to their contemplated settlement; and in April, 1788, commenced the first 
settlement at Marietta. In 1789, he was appointed by Washington a judge of the supreme 
court of the territory. On the 5th of May, 1792, he was appointed brigadier general in 
the army of the United States, destined to act against the Indians; but resigned the next 
year, in consequence of ill health. In October, 1796, he was appointed surveyor general 
of the United States, in which office he continued until 1803. He was a member, from 

65 


514 


WASHINGTON COUNTY. 


this county, of the convention which formed the state constitution. From this time his 
advanced age led him to decline all business of a public nature, and he sought the quiet of 
private life. He died at Marietta, May 1st, 1824, at the age of 86. 

General Putnam was a man of strong, good sense, modest, benevolent, and scrupulous 
to fulfill the duties which he owed to God and man. In person he was tall, of command¬ 
ing appearance, and possessed a frame eminently fitted for the hardships and trials of war. 
His mind, though not brilliant, was solid, penetrating and comprehensive, seldom ending 
in conclusions. 

Return Jonathan Meigs was born at Middletown, Ct., in 1765, graduated at Yale, 
studied law and was admitted to the bar in his native town. He was among the first set¬ 
tlers of Marietta. In the winter of 1802-3, he was elected chief justice of the supreme 
court of the state. The next year he resigned this office, having received from Jefferson 
the appointment of commandant of the United States’ troops and militia in the upper dis¬ 
trict of Louisiana, and shortly after was appointed one of the judges of the territory of 
Louisiana. In April, 1807, he was commissioned a judge of Michigan territory ; resigned 
the commission in October, and becoming a candidate for governor of Ohio, was elected, 
in a spirited canvass, over his competitor, General Massie ; but not having the constitu- . 
tional qualification of the four years’ residence in the state, prior to the election, his election 
was contested and decided against him. In the session of 1807-8, he was appointed sen¬ 
ator in congress, which office he afterwards resigned, and was elected governor of Ohio in 
1810. In the war with Great Britain, while holding the gubernatorial office, he acted with 
great promptness and energy. In March, 1814, having been appointed post-master gen¬ 
eral of the United States, he resigned that office, and continued in his new vocation until 
1823, during which he managed its arduous duties to the satisfaction of Presidents Madison 
and Monroe. He died at Marietta, March 29th, 1825. In person he was tall and finely 
formed, with a high retreating forehead, black eyes, and aquiline and prominent nose. His 
features indicated his character, and were remarkably striking, expressive of mildness, in¬ 
telligence, promptness and stability of purpose. His moral character was free from re¬ 
proach, and he was benevolent, unambitious, dignified, but easy of access. 

Rev. Daniel Story, the earliest protestant preacher of the gospel in the territory north¬ 
west of the Ohio, except the Moravian missionaries,* was a native of Boston, and gradu¬ 
ated at Dartmouth in 1780. The directors and agents of the Ohio company having passed 
a resolution in 1788, for the support of the gospel and the teaching of youth, Rev. Ma- 
nasseh Cutler, one of the company’s directors, in the course of that year engaged Mr. 
Story, then preaching at Worcester, to go to the west as a chaplain to the new settlement 
at Marietta. In the spring of 1789, he commenced his ministerial labors as an evangelist, 
visiting the settlements in rotation. During the Indian war from 1791 to 1795, he preached, 
during most of the time, in the northwest block-house of Campus Martius. The Ohio 
company at the same time raised a sum of money for the education of youth, and employed 
teachers. These testimonials sufficiently prove that the company felt for the spiritual, as 
well as the temporal affairs of the colonists. 

When the war was over, Mr. Story preached at the different settlements; but as there 
were no roads, he made these pastoral visits by water, in a log canoe, propelled by stout 
arms and willing hearts. In 1796, he established a Congregational church, composed of 
persons residing at Marietta, Belprie, Waterford and Vienna, in Virginia. Mr. Story died 
December 30th, 1804, at the age of 49 years. He was a remarkable man, and peculiarly 
fitted for the station he held.t 

Herman Blannerhasset, whose connection with the ill-fated project 
of Aaron Burr has given his name a wide-spread notoriety, was a 
resident of Marietta as early as 1796. About the year 1798, he 
commenced his improvements on the beautiful island since known 
by his name, embosomed on the Ohio, near the lower end of this 
county. He afterwards resided upon it for a number of years, sur¬ 
rounded with all that made life dear, when the tempter entered this 
Eden and forever blighted his earthly prospects. After years of 

* Rev. Maaasseh Cutler, agent of the Ohio company, although not employed as a clergy¬ 
man, in 1788, prior to Mr. Story’s emigration, had voluntarily delivered several sermons at 
Marietta. 

t The preceding biographical sketches are abridged from those elsewhere published, and 
written by Dr. S. P. Hildreth. 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 


515 


wandering, he finally died in 1822, on the island of Guernsey. His 
beautiful and accomplished wife subsequently returned to this coun¬ 
try, and preferred claims against the United States, but without 
success. She died in New York, in 1842. The island will ever 
remain a memento of the fate of this unfortunate family, around 
whose melancholy fortunes the genius of Wirt has weaved a tribute 
of eloquence alike imperishable. 



At Marietta are some ancient works, which, although not more 
remarkable than others in the state, and not as extensive as some, 
are more generally known, from having been so frequently described 
and alluded to by travellers. The description which follows is 
from Harris’s Tour, and the engraved plan from the Archaeologia 
Americana. 

“ The situation of these works is on an elevated plain, above the 
present bank of the Muskingum, on the east side, and about half a 
mile from its junction with the Ohio. They consist of walls and 
mounds of earth, in direct lines, and in square and circular forms. 

“ The largest square fort, by some called the town, contains 40 
acres, encompassed by a wall of earth from 6 to 10 feet high, and 





516 


WASHINGTON COUNTY. 


from 25 to 36 feet in breadth at the base. On each side are three 
openings, at equal distances, resembling 12 gateways. The en¬ 
trances at the middle are the largest, particularly on the side next 
to the Muskingum. From this outlet is a covert way, formed of two 
parallel walls of earth, 231 feet distant from each other, measuring 



Mound at Marietta. 


from centre to centre. The walls at the most elevated part, on the 
inside, are 21 feet in height, and 42 in breadth at the base; but on 
the outside average only five feet in height. This forms a passage 
of about 360 feet in length, leading by a gradual descent to the low 
grounds, where, at the time of its construction, it probably reached 
the river. Its walls commence at 60 feet from the ramparts of the 
fort, and increase in elevation as the way descends towards the 
river; and the bottom is crowned in the centre, in the manner of a 
well-founded turnpike road. 

“ Within the walls of the fort, at the northwest corner, is an ob¬ 
long elevated square, 188 feet long, 132 broad, and 9 feet high; level 
on the summit, and nearly perpendicular at the sides. At the centre 
of each of the sides, the earth is projected, forming gradual ascents 
to the top, equally regular, and about 6 feet in width. Near the 
south wall is another elevated square, 150 feet by 120, and 8 feet high, 
similar to the other, excepting that instead of an ascent to go up on 
the side next the wall, there is a hollow way 10 feet wide, leading 
20 feet towards the centre, and then rising with a gradual slope to 
the top. At the southeast corner is a third elevated square, 108 by 
54 feet, with ascents at the ends, but not so high nor perfect as the 
two others. A little to the southwest of the centre of the fort is a 
circular mound, about 30 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, near which 
are four small excavations at equal distances, and opposite each 
other. At the southwest corner of the fort is a semi-circular para¬ 
pet, crowned with a mound, which guards the opening in the wall. 
Towards the southeast is a smaller fort, containing 20 acres, with a 



WAYNE COUNTY. 


517 


gateway in the centre of each side and at each corner. These 
gateways are defended by circular mounds. 

“On the outside of the smaller fort is a mound, [shown in the 
engraving,] in form of a sugar-loaf, of a magnitude and height which 
strike the beholder with astonishment. Its base is a regular circle, 
115 feet in diameter ; its perpendicular altitude is 30 feet. It is sur¬ 
rounded by a ditch 4 feet deep and 15 feet wide, and defended by a 
parapet 4 feet high, through which is a gateway towards the fort, 20 
feet in width.” 



Harmar, from, the Virginia shore of the Ohio. 


Harmar is very pleasantly situated on the south bank of the Musk¬ 
ingum, opposite Marietta. It contains 1 Methodist church, a male 
and female academy, 5 mercantile stores, 1 steam mill, 1 extensive 
foundery, a large hotel, (shown on the left of the view,) and had in 
in 1840, 692 inhabitants. Steamboat building has been extensively 
carried on here. It will probably become a manufacturing town, a 
grant having lately been given by the state to use the waters of the 
Muskingum at the dam. 

The following are the names of small villages in this cpunty, with 
their population in 1840. Beverly 317, Plymouth 141, Watertown 
126, and Lowell 92. The last named has since much increased. It 
is on the Muskingum, 10 miles above Marietta, where a high dam 
across the river furnishes much water power, and will probably at 
some future day make this an important seat of manufactures. 


WAYNE. 

Wayne was established by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, Aug. 
15th, 1796, and was the third county formed in the N. W. Territory. 
Its original limits were very extensive, and were thus defined in the 
















518 


WAYNE COUNTY. 


act creating it. “ Beginning at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, 
upon Lake Erie, and with the said river to the Portage, between it 
and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence down the 
said branch to the forks at the carrying place above Fort Laurens; 
thence by a west line to the east boundary of Hamilton county, 
(which is a due north line from the lower Shawnese town upon the 
Scioto river,) thence by a line west-northerly to the southern part 
of the Portage, between the Miamis of the Ohio and the St. Mary’s 
river; thence by a line also west-northerly to the southwestern part 
of the Portage, between the Wabash and the Miamis of Lake Erie, 
where Fort Wayne now stands; thence by a line west-northerly to 
the southern part of Lake Michigan; thence along the western 
shores of the same to the northwest part thereof; (including the 
lands upon the streams emptying into the said lake;) thence by a 
due north line to the territorial boundary in Lake Superior, and with 
the said boundary through Lakes Huron, Sinclair and Erie to the 
mouth of Cuyahoga river, the place of beginning.” These limits 
embrace what is now a part of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, 
and all of Michigan, and the towns of Ohio City, Chicago, Sault St. 
Mary’s, Mackinaw, etc. The surface of the county is mostly roll¬ 
ing, but interspersed with numerous glades of level land; the pre¬ 
vailing soil is a deep clayey loam, capable of the highest fertility. 
Coal of an excellent quality abounds in the northeastern part, and 
excellent quarries of limestone in the south: it is one of the best 
counties for wheat in Ohio. The principal productions are wheat, 
oats, corn, grass, potatoes, sheep and swine. The following is a list 
of its townships in 1840, with their population. 


Baughman, 

1741 

Franklin, 

1504 

Perry, 

2100 

Canaan, 

1826 

Green, 

1751 

Plain, 

2134 

Chester, 

1985 

Jackson, 

1645 

Salt Creek, 

2223 

Chippewa, 

1787 

Lake, 

1145 

Sugar Creek, 

2223 

Clinton, 

• 873 

Milton, 

1352 

Wayne, 

1841 

Congress, 
East Union, 

2008 

Mohecan, 

2046 

Wooster, 

3119 

1864 

Paint, 

1610 


The population of Wayne, in 1820, was 11,933 ; in 1830, 

23,327; 


and in 1840, 36,015, or 68 inhabitants to a square mile. In Feb¬ 
ruary, 1846, the principal part of the townships of Jackson, Lake, 
Mohecan and Perry were taken from Wayne to form a part of the 
new county of Ashland. 

This county was named from Gen. Anthony Wayne. He was born in Chester county, 
Pa., January 1st, 1745. After leaving school he became a surveyor, and paid some atten¬ 
tion to philosophy and engineering, by which he obtained the friendship of Dr. Franklin, 
who became his patron. He entered the army of the revolution in 1775, and was made 
brigadier general in 1777. He was in the army through the war, and particularly distin¬ 
guished himself in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth. His attack 
upon Stony Point, in July, 1779, an almost inaccessible height, defended by 600 men and 
a strong battery of artillery, was the most brilliant exploit of the war. At midnight, he 
led his troops with unloaded muskets, flints out, and fixed bayonets, and without firing a 
single gun, carried the fort by storm and took 543 prisoners. He was struck, in the attack, 
by a musket ball in the head, which was momentarily supposed to be a mortal wound ; he 
called to his aids to carry him forward and let him die in the fort. The crowning acts of 


WAYNE COUNTY. 


519 


his l,fe were his victory over the Indians on the Maumee, and the treaty of Greenville in 
1795. His life of peril and glory was terminated in 1796, in a cabin at Presque Isle, (now 

,7n7’ V he c wdd ? mess - , Hls remai ns were there deposited, at his own request, 

under the flag-staff of the fort, on the margin of Lake Erie; and were removed in 1809, 
by his son to Radnor church-yard, Delaware county, Pa. Wayne was one of the best 
generals of the revolution He was irresistible in leading a charge, and a man of great 
impetuosity of character, bordenng on rashness; but he conducted his last campaign with 
great caution and skill. v s 


Killbuck s creek, in this county, was named from Killbuck, a Del¬ 
aware chief. His village, called Killbuck’s town, was on the road 
from Wooster to Millersburg, on the east side of the creek, about 10 
miles south of Wooster. It is laid down on maps published as early 
as 1764. When the country was first settled, Killbuck was a very 
old man. There were several chiefs by this name. 



Central View in Wooster. 


An Indian settlement stood just south of Wooster, on the site of 
the Baptist burying-ground. It was named Beaver-hat, from an 
Indian chief of that name, who resided there with a few others. 
His Indian name was Paupelenan , and his camp or residence was 
called by him Apple chauquecake , i. e, “Apple Orchard.” The In¬ 
dian tiail from Pittsburgh to Lower Sandusky, passed just north of 
Beaver Hat. J 

Wooster, the county seat, named from Gen. David Wooster, an 
officer of the revolution, is 93 miles northeast of Columbus, and 52 
southerly from Cleveland, on the stage road between the two places. 
It is situated near the junction of Apple with Killbuck creek, on a 
gradual slope of ground, elevated about 50 feet above the latter, and 
is surrounded by a beautiful undulating country. To the south, 
from the more elevated parts of the town, is seen the beautiful 
valley of the Killbuck, stretching away for many miles, until the 
prospect is hid by the highlands in the county of Holmes, 12 or 14 
miles distant. Wooster is compactly and well built, and is a place 
of much business. The view was taken near Archer’s store, and 






520 


WAYNE COUNTY. 


shows a part of the public square, with the west side of Market 
street: the county buildings are shown on the left, and the spire of 
the Baptist church in the distance. The town contains 1 Presby¬ 
terian, 1 Methodist, 1 German Lutheran, 1 German Reformed, 1 
Seceder, 1 Disciples, 1 Lutheran, 1 Baptist church, a female sem¬ 
inary in good repute, 4 grocery, 10 dry goods, 2 hardware, 2 book 
and 3 drug stores, 1 bank, and had in 1840, 1913 inhabitants, and 
now is estimated to contain 2700. Carriage making is extensively 
carried on. 

This county lies within what was once called “the New Purchase,” 
a very extensive tract, lying south of the Reserve, east of the Tus¬ 
carawas, north of the Greenville treaty line, and extending as far 
west as the western line of the Reserve. The land office for this 
tract was at Canton, Col. Thomas Gibson, register, and Col. John 
Sloan, now of Wooster, receiver. The first lands were sold in this 
district at Canton, in 1808, when was purchased the sites of Mans¬ 
field, Richland county, Wooster, and a few scattering tracts in the 
purchase. 

Wooster was laid out in the fall of 1808, by the proprietors, John 
Beaver, William Henry and Joseph H. Larwill, on a site 337 feet 
above Lake Erie. The first house built in the county was a log 
structure now standing on Liberty street, in Wooster, immediately 
west of the residence of William Larwill. It was raised about the 
time the town was laid out, and was first occupied by William Lar¬ 
will and Abraham Miller, a young man. The next spring the father 
of the'latter moved in from Stark county, with his family—the first 
that settled in the town—and opened it as a house of entertainment. 
About the same time, James Morgan, from Virginia, settled with his 
family on Killbuck, just north of the old Indian town. In 1810, the 
yellow brick building on the north side of Liberty street, adjoining 
the public square, was erected by John Beaver, being the first brick 
edifice erected in the county. In the fall of 1808, a road was cut 
from what is now Massilon, to Wooster, which was, it is said, the 
first road made in the county. The first state road running through 
the county, from Canton to Wooster, was laid out in 1810, by the 
commissioners. 

When Wooster was settled, there were no white inhabitants be¬ 
tween it and the lake; on the west, none short of the Maumee, Fort 
Wayne and Vincennes; on the south, none until within a few miles 
of Coshocton, and those on the Tuscarawas were the nearest on the 
east. Wooster was made the seat of justice for the county, May 
30th, 1811. Previously, the whole county was comprised in Kill- 
buck township, which had, by the census of 1810, but 320 inhab¬ 
itants. Wooster was not the first county seat. The spot chosen 
by the first commissioners was on an eminence now known as Mad¬ 
ison hill, about 1^ miles southeast of the town, on land then owned 
by Bezaleel Wells & Co., which place they called Madison. But a 
single cabin was afterwards built there. The selection displeased 


WILLIAMS COUNTY. 


521 


the people of the county, which resulted in the legislature appoint¬ 
ing new commissioners, who located it at Wooster. 

The first mill was erected in the county in 1809, by Joseph Stibbs, 
of Canton, on Apple creek, about a mile east of Wooster. Some 
time after, Stibbs sent a man by the name of Michael Switzer, who 
opened for him, in a small building attached to the mill, a store, con¬ 
sisting of a small stock of goods suitable for the settlers and Indians. 

One morning a singular incident occurred. In the store was 
William Smith, Hugh Moore, Jesse Richards, J. H. Larwill and five 
or six Indians. Switzer was in the act of weighing out some pow¬ 
der from an eighteen pound keg, while the Indians were quietly 
smoking their pipes filled with a mixture of tobacco, sumach leaves 
and kinnickinnick, or yellow willow bark, when a puff of wind 
coming in at the window, blew a spark from one of their pipes into 
the powder. A terrific explosion ensued. The roof of the building 
was blown into four parts, and carried some distance—the sides fell 
out, the joists came to the floor—and the floor and chimney alone 
were left of the structure. Switzer died in a few minutes—Smith 
was blown through the partition into the mill, and badly injured. 
Richards and the Indians were also hurt, and all somewhat burned. 
Larwill, who happened to be standing against the chimney, escaped 
with very little harm, except having, like the rest, his face well 
blackened, and being knocked down by the shock. 

The Indians, fearful that they might be accused of doing it inten¬ 
tionally, some days after called a council of citizens for an investi¬ 
gation, which was held on the bottom, on Christmas run, west of the 
town. 

In the war of 1812, a block-house was erected in Wooster, on the 
site of Col. John Sloan’s residence. It was built by Captain George 
Stidger, of Canton, and was intended more particularly for a com¬ 
pany he had here and other troops who might be passing through the 
country. 

The following is a list of small villages in the county, with their 
distances and directions from Wooster, the largest of which may 
contain 350 inhabitants. Waynesburg 11, and New Pittsburg 9 
nw. ; Jefferson 4, and Reedsburg, 8 w.; Blackneyville, 8 nsw. ; 
Millbrook, 6 sw.; Moreland, 6 s. ; Edinburgh 6, and Mt. Eaton, 14 
se. ; Moscow 10, and Dalton, 13 e. ; Smithville 6, Bristol 13, Chip¬ 
pewa 15, and Doyleston, 17 ne. 


WILLIAMS. 

Williams was formed from old Indian territory, April 1st, 1820, 
and organized in April, 1824. It was named from David Williams, 
a native of Tarrytown, N. Y., and one of the three captors of Maj. 
Andre, in the war of the revolution. The surface is slightly rolling 
or level. In the west are oak openings with a light sandy soil. In 

06 



522 


WOOD COUNTY. 


the north is a rich black soil, 
toes, oats and wheat. The 


The principal crops are corn, pota- 
llowinff is a list of its townships in 


r population. 




351 

Florence, 

119 

Springfield, 

359 

110 

Hicksville, 

67 

St. Joseph, 

191 

339 

Jefferson, 

363 

Superior, 

166 

944 

Milford, 

175 

Tiffin, 

222 

201 

Mill Creek, 

110 

Washington, 

98 

281 

Pulaski, 

279 



ion of 

Williams in 

1830, 

was 1039, and 

in 1840, 


Brady, 

Bridewater, 

Centre, 

Defiance, 

Delaware, 

Farmer, 

The populal 

4464, or 6 inhabitants to the square mile. This county was much 
reduced in 1845, by the formation of Defiance, to which the town¬ 
ships of Defiance, Delaware, Farmer, Hicksville, Milford, Tiffin and 
Washington, now belong. 

This county is now settling fast. The population are principally 
from Ohio, New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Germany. 
Previous to 1835, there were but few families within its present 
limits. 

Bryan, the county seat, is 173 miles nw. of Columbus and 18 from 
Defiance. It was laid out in 1840, and named from Hon. John A. 
Bryan, formerly auditor of the state, and later charge de affairs to 
Peru. It is a small village, containing perhaps 40 or 50 dwellings. 


WOOD. 

Wood was formed from old Indian territory, April 1st, 1820, and 
named from the brave and chivalrous Col. Wood, a distinguished 
officer of engineers in the war of 1812. The surface is level, and 
covered by the black swamp, the soil of which is a rich, black loam, 
and very fertile, and peculiarly well adapted to grazing. The popu¬ 
lation are mainly of New England descent, with some Germans. 
The principal crops are corn, hay, potatoes, oats and wheat. The 
following is a list of the townships in 1840, with their population. 
Bloom, 437 Liberty, 215 Perry sburg, 1041 

Centre, 97 Middleton, 193 Plain, 272 

Freedom, 238 Milton and Weston, 539 Portage, 199 

Henry, 213 Montgomery, 609 Troy, 383 

Jackson, 26 Perry, 559 Washington, 244 

The population of Wood in 1830, was 1096, and in 1840, 5458, 
or 10 inhabitants to the square mile. 

This county lies within the Maumee valley, a country as yet new 
and thinly settled, but destined to be one of the most highly cul¬ 
tivated and densely populated in the west. We annex a sketch of 
its early history, in a communication from Hezekiah L. Hosmer, Esq., 
of Perrysburg. 

The military expeditions against the Indian tribes in the west, commenced under the 
colonial governments about the middle of the last century, were finally terminated on this 



WOOD COUNTY. 


523 


river, by the decisive victory of Gen. Wayne, in 1794. Previous to that event, no portion 
of the west was more beloved by the Indians than the valleys of the Maumee and its trib¬ 
utaries. In the daily journal of Wayne’s campaign, kept by George Will, under date of 
August 6th, 1794, when the army was encamped 56 miles in advance of Fort Recovery, 
the writer says: “ We are within 6 miles of the Auglaize river, and I expect to eat green 
corn to-morrow.” On the 8th of the same month, after the arrival of the army at the 
Camp Grand Auglaize, (the site of Fort Defiance,) he continues: “ We have marched 4 
or 5 miles in corn-fields down the Auglaize, and there is not less than 1000 acres of com 
around the town.” This journal, kept from that time until the return of the army to Fort 
Greenville, is full of descriptions of the immense corn-fields, large vegetable patches, and 
old apple trees, found along the banks of the Maumee, from its mouth to Fort Wayne! It 
discloses the astonishing fact, that for a period of eight days while building Fort Defiance, 
the army obtained their bread and vegetables from the corn-fields and potatoe patches sur¬ 
rounding the fort. In their march from Fort Defiance to the foot of the rapids, the army 
passed through a number of Indian towns, composed of huts, constructed of bark and 
skins—which afforded evidence that the people who had once inhabited them were com¬ 
posed, not only of Indians, but of Canadian French and renegade Englishmen. 

What the condition of the valley was for some years after Wayne’s campaign, may be 
gathered from the following extracts from one of Judge Burnet’s letters, published by the 
Ohio Historical society. After assigning some reasons for the downfall of the Indians, he 
says: “ My yearly trips to Detroit, from 1796 to 1802, made it necessary to pass through 
some of their towns, and convenient, to visit many of them. Of course, 1 had frequent op¬ 
portunities of seeing thousands of them, in their villages and at their hunting camps, and of 
forming a personal acquaintance with some of their distinguished chiefs. I have eat and 
slept in their towns, and partaken of their hospitality, which had no limit but that of their 
contracted means. In journeying more recently through the state, in discharging my judi¬ 
cial duties, I sometimes passed over the ground, on which I had seen towns filled with 
happy families of that devoted race, without perceiving the smallest trace of what had 
once been there. All their ancient settlements, on the route to Fort Defiance, and from 
thence to the foot of the rapids, had been broken up and deserted. The battle-ground of 
Gen. Wayne, which I had often seen in the rude state, in which it w'as when the decisive 
action of 1794 was fought, was so altered and changed that I could not recognize it, and 
not an indication remained of the very extensive Indian settlements which I had formerly 
seen there. It seemed almost impossible that in so short a period, such an astonishing 
change could have taken place.” These extracts prove, that even after the battle of Presque 
Isle, although crushed and humbled, the Indian refused to be divorced from the favorite 
home and numerous graves of his race. A chain of causes which followed this battle, 
finally wrested from him the last foothold of his soil. These may be said to have com¬ 
menced with the treaty of Greenville, made on the 3d of August, 1795, with the Wyan- 
dots, Ottawas, and other tribes, located in this region. By this treaty, among various other 
cessions of territory, a tract of land 12 miles square at the foot of the rapids, and one of 6 
miles square at the mouth of the river, were given to the United States. This treaty was 
followed by the establishment of the boundaries of the county of Wayne, which included 
a part of the states of Ohio, Indiana, and the w'hole of Michigan. 

Notwithstanding this actual declaration of ownership by the government, few only of the 
whites of the country, were willing to penetrate and reside in this yet unforsaken abode of the 
Indian. Col. John Anderson was the first white trader of any notoriety on the Maumee. 
He settled at Fort Miami as early as 1800. Peter Manor, a Frenchman, was here previous 
to that time, and was adopted by the chief Fontogany, by the name of Sawcndebans , or “ the 
Yellow Hair!” Manor, however, did not come here to reside until 1808. Indeed, I can 
not learn the names of any of the settlers prior to 1810, except the two above mentioned. 
We may mention among those who came during the year 1810, Maj. Amos Spaflbrd, An¬ 
drew Race, Thomas Learning, Halsey W. Learning, James Carlin, Wm. Carter, George 
Blalock, James Slason, Samuel H. Ewing, Jesse Skinner, David Hull, Thomas Dick, Wm. 
Peters, Ambrose Hickox, Richard Gifford. All these individuals were settled within a 
circumference of 10 miles, embracing the ampitheatre at the foot of the rapids, as early 
as 1810. Maj. Amos Spafiord came here to perform the duties of collector of the port 
of Miami. He was also appointed deputy post-master. A copy of his return to the gov¬ 
ernment as collector, for the first quarter of his service, ending on the 30th June, 1810, 
shows the aggregate amount of exports to have been $5640,85. This was, for skins and 
furs, $5610,85, and for 20 gallons of bear’s oil, $30. 

When war broke out in 1812, there were 67 families residing at the foot of the rapids. 
Manor—or Minard, the Frenchman above alluded to—states that the first intimation that 


524 


WOOD COUNTY. 


the settlers had of Hull’s surrender at Detroit, manifested itself by the appearance of a 
party of British and Indians at the foot of the rapids, a few days after it took place. The 
Indians plundered the settlers on both sides of the river, and departed for Detroit in canoes. 
Three of their number remained, with the intention of going into the interior of the state. 
One of these was a Delaware chief by the name of Sac-a-manc. Manor won his con¬ 
fidence, under the pretence of friendship for the British, and was by him informed, that in a 
few days a grand assemblage of all the northwestern tribes was contemplated at Fort 
Malden, and that in about two days after that assemblage, a large number of British and 
Indians would be at the foot of the rapids, on their march to relieve Fort Wayne, then 
under investment by the American army, as was supposed. He also informed him, that 
when they came again, they would massacre all the Yankees found in the valley, Sac-a- 
manc left for the interior of the state, after remaining a day at the foot of the rapids. The 
day after his departure, Minard called upon Maj. Spafford, and warned him of the hostile 
intentions of the Indians, as he had received them from Sac-a-manc. The major placed 
no confidence in them, and expressed a determination to remain, until our army from the 
interior should reach this frontier. A few days after this conversation, a man by the name of 
Gordon was seen approaching the residence of Maj. Spafford in great haste. This individ¬ 
ual had been reared among the Indians ; but had previous to this time received some fa¬ 
vors of a trifling character from Maj. Spafford. The major met him in his corn-field, and 
was informed that a party of about 50 Pottawatomies on their way to Malden had taken 
this route, and in less than two hours would be at the foot of the rapids. He also urged the 
major to make good his escape immediately. Most of the families at the foot of the 
rapids had left the valley after receiving intelligence of Hull’s surrender. The major assem¬ 
bled those that were left on the bank of the river, where they put in tolerable sailing con¬ 
dition an old barge, in which some officers had descended the river from Fort Wayne, the 
previous year. They had barely time to get such of their effects as were portable on board, 
and row down into the bend below the town, before they heard the shouts of the Indians 
above. Finding no Americans here, the Indians passed on to Malden. The major and his 
companions sailed in their crazy vessel down the lake, to the Quaker settlement at Milan, 
on Huron river, where they remained until the close of the war. Sac-a-manc, on his re¬ 
turn from the interior of the state, a few days after the event, showed Manor the scalps of 
three persons that he had killed during his absence, on Owl creek, near Mount Vernon. At 
the time mentioned by him, a detachment of the British army, under command of Colonel 
Elliott, accompanied by about 500 Indians, came to the foot of the rapids. They were 
anxious to obtain guides. Manor feigned lameness and ignorance of the country, above 
the head of the rapids, a distance of 18 miles up the river. By this means, he escaped 
being pressed into their service above that point. He accompanied them that far with his 
cart and poney, and was then permitted to return. On his return he met Col. Elliott, the 
commander of the detachment, at the foot of Presque Isle Hill, who stopped him, and after 
learning the services he had performed, permitted him, with a curse, to go on. A mile be¬ 
low him, he met a party of about 40 Pottawotamies, who also desired to know where he 
was going. Manor escaped being compelled to return, by telling them he was returning to 
the foot of the rapids, after forage for the army. The British and Indians pursued their 
march up the river, until they saw the American flag waving over Winchester’s encamp¬ 
ment at Defiance, when they returned in double quick time to Canada. On their return, 
they burned the dwellings, stole the horses and destroyed the corn-fields of the settlers at 
the foot of the rapids. 

Manor, soon after his arrival at the foot of the rapids, went down the river to the British 
fleet, then lying at the mouth of Swan creek, under command of Capt. Mills. Here he 
reported himself, told what he had done for the army, and desired leave to go to his family 
at the mouth of the river. Capt. Mills, having no evidence of his loyalty beyond his own 
word, put him under hatches as a prisoner of war. Through the aid of his friend, Beau- 
grand, Minard was released in a few days, joined his family, and was afterwards a scout 
for our army during the remainder of the war. He is now living at the head of the rapids, 
on a reservation of land granted him by the government, at the request of his Indian father, 
Ton-tog-sa-ny. 

After peace was declared, most of the settlers that had lived here previous to the war, 
returned to their old possessions. They were partly indemnified by government for their 
losses. Many of them lived in the block-houses on Fort Meigs, and one or two of the citi¬ 
zens of our town were born in one of them. The settlement of the valley was at first 
slow, but the foot of the rapids and vicinity was settled long before any of the rest. In 
1816, government sent an agent to lay out a town, at the point best calculated for com¬ 
mercial purposes. That agent sounded the river from its mouth, and fixed upon Perrys- 


WOOD COUNTY. 


525 


burg. The town was laid out that year, and named after Com. Perry, by Hon. Josiah 
Meigs, then comptroller of the treasury. This county was then embraced in the county 
limits of Logan county—Bellefontaine, being the county seat. When the limits of Wood 
county were first determined, there was a great struggle between these three towns at the 
foot rapids—Orleans, Maumee and Perrysburg, for the county seat. The decision in favor 
of Perrysburg was the cause of the abandonment of the little town of Orleans, which soon 
after fell into decay. 

The last remnant of the powerful Ottawa tribe of Indians removed from this valley west 
of the Mississippi in 1838. They numbered some interesting men among them. There 
was Nawash, Ockquenoxy, Charloe, Ottoca, Petonquet, men of eloquence, remembered by 
many of our citizens. Their burying-grounds and village-sites, are scattered along both 
banks of the river, from its mouth to Fort Defiance. 

This part of the Maumee valley has been noted for military opera¬ 
tions. Wayne’s victory over the Indians, (see page 318,) Aug. 20th, 
1794, was gained within its borders. It was also the theatre of some 
important operations in the war of 1812. 

About the middle of June, 1812, the army of Hull left Urbana, and passed through the 
present counties of Logan, Hardin, Hancock and Wood, into Michigan. They cut a road 
through the forest, and erected Forts M’Arthur and Findlay on the route, and arrived at 
the Maumee on the 30th of June, which they crossed at or near the foot of the rapids. Hull 
surrendered at Detroit on the 16th of the August following. 

In the same summer, Gen. Edward W. Tupper, of Gallia comity, raised about 1000 men 
for six months’ duty, mainly from Gallia, Lawrence and Jackson counties, who, under the 
orders of Gen. Winchester, marched from Urbana north by the route of Hull, and reached 
the foot of the Maumee rapids. The Indians appearing in force on the opposite bank, Tup¬ 
per endeavored to cross the river with his troops in the night; but the rapidity of the current, 
and the feeble, half-starved condition of his men and horses were such, that the attempt 
foiled. The enemy soon after collected a superior force, and attacked Tupper in his camp, 
but w r ere driven off with considerable loss. They returned to Detroit, and the Americans 
marched back to Fort M’Arthur. 

On the 10th of January, 1813, Gen. Winchester, whose troops had been stationed at Forts 
Wayne and Defiance, arrived at the rapids, having marched from the latter along the north 
bank of the Maumee. There they encamped until the 17th, when Winchester resumed 
his march north, and was defeated with great loss on the 22d, on the River Raisin, near 
the site of Monroe, Michigan. 

On receiving information of Winchester’s defeat, Gen. Harrison sent Dr. M’Keehan from 
Portage river with medicines and money to Malden, for the relief of the wounded and the 
prisoners. He was accompanied by a Frenchman and a militia man, and was furnished 
with a letter from Harrison, addressed to any British officer whom he might meet, describ¬ 
ing his errand. The night after they left, they halted at the Maumee rapids to take a few 
hours sleep, in a vacant cabin upon the north bank of the river, about 50 rods north of the 
present bridge. The cariole in which they travelled was left at the door, with a flag of 
truce set up in it. They were discovered in the night by a party of Indians, accompanied, 
it is said, by a British officer; one of the men was killed, and the others taken to Malden, 
where the doctor was thrown into prison by Proctor and loaded with irons. 

After the defeat of Winchester, Gen. Harrison, about the 1st of Feb., established his ad¬ 
vanced post at the foot of the rapids. He ordered Capt. Wood, of the engineer corps, to 
fortify the position, as it was his intention to make this point his grand depot. The fort 
erected was afterwards named Meigs, in honor of Governor Meigs. 

Harrison ordered all the troops in the rear to join him immediately. He was in hopes, 
by the middle of February, to advance upon Malden, and strike a blow that should, in 
some measure, retrieve the misfortunes that had befallen the American arms in this quarter. 

On the 9th of February, intelligence was brought of the encampment of about 600 In¬ 
dians, about 20 miles down, near the Bay shore. Harrison had with him at this time about 
2000 men at the post. The same night, or that following, 600 men left the fort under 
Harrison, and marched down the river on the ice about 20 miles, when they discovered 
some fires on the north side of the river, which proved to have been that of the Indians who 
had fled the day before. Here the detachment, which had been joined by 500 men more 
from the post, waited a few minutes, without having time to warm themselves, it being in¬ 
tensely cold, when the object of the expedition was made known. This was to march after 
the Indians; and all those unable by fatigue to continue, were ordered to follow the next 
day. On resuming the line of march, the army had proceeded only about two miles when 


526 


WOOD COUNTY. 


their only cannon, with the horses attached, broke through the ice. This was about two 
hours before morning, and the moon unfortunately was nearly down. In endeavoring to 
extricate the horses, Lieut. Joseph H. Larwill, who had charge of the piece, with two of 
his men, broke through the ice and narrowly escaped drowning. The army thereupon 
halted, and a company ordered to assist in recovering the cannon, which was not accom¬ 
plished until daybreak. Some of the men gave out from being wet, cold and fatigued ; but 
the lieut., with the remainder, proceeded with the cannon after the main army, which they 
overtook shortly after sunrise, on an island near the mouth of the bay. The spies were then 
arriving with the intelligence that the Indians had left the river Raisin for Malden. Upon 
this the troops, having exhausted their provisions, returned, arriving at Fort Meigs just as 
the evening gun had been fired, having performed a march of 45 miles on the ice in less 
than 24 hours.* 

A few days after this, about 250 men volunteered to go on an enterprize of the most des¬ 
perate nature. On Friday, the 26th, the volunteer corps destined for this duty were ad¬ 
dressed on parade by Gen. Harrison, who informed them, that when they had got a suffi¬ 
cient distance from the fort, they were to be informed of the errand they were upon, and 
that all who then wished could return, but not afterwards. He represented the undertaking 
as in a high degree one of peril and privation; but he promised that those who deported 
themselves in a gallant and soldierlike manner should be rewarded, and their names for¬ 
warded to the general government. 

The corps took up their line of march and concentrated at what is now Lower Sandusky, 
where was then a block-house, on the site of Fort Stephenson, at that time garrisoned by 
two companies of militia. 

The force which was under the command of Capt. Langham, consisted of 68 regulars, 120 
Virginia and Pennsylvania militia, 32 men under Lieut. Madiss, and 22 Indians, making, 
with their officers, 242 men; besides these, were 24 drivers of sleds and several pilots. 

On the morning of the 2d of March, they left the block-house, with six days’ provisions, 
and had proceeded about half a mile when Capt. Langham ordered a halt. He addressed 
the soldiers and informed them of the object of the expedition, which was to move down to 
Lake Erie and cross over the ice to Malden, and, in the darkness of night, to destroy with 
combustibles the British fleet and the public stores on the bank of the river. This being 
done, the men were to retreat in their sleighs to the point of the Maumee bay, when their re¬ 
treat was to be covered by a large force under Harrison. At this time, independent of the 
garrison at Malden, in that vicinity was a large body of Indians, and it required a combi¬ 
nation of circumstances to render the enterprize successful. Capt. Langham gave liberty 
for all who judged it to be too hazardous, to withdraw. About 20 of the militia and 6 or 7 
of the Indians availed themselves of the liberty. The rest moved down the river in sleighs, 
and took the land on the west side of the bay, passing through and across the peninsula, and 
crossed at the bay of Portage river, and soon came in view of the lake and its embosoming 
islands. Some of the men walking out on the ice of the lake, were alarmed by what was 
judged to be a body of men moving towards them. It was subsequently discovered to be 
the rays of the sun, reflecting on ice thrown up in ridges. 

The party encamped near the lake, and being without any tents, were thoroughly wet 
by the snow and rain. After the guards were stationed, and all had retired to rest, the 
report of a musket was heard, and every man sprang to his post, ready for action. It proved 
to have been a false alarm—an accidental discharge through the carelessness of one of the 
men. Capt. Langham was almost determined to have the soldier shot for his carelessness, 
as it now had become particularly necessary for the utmost precaution; but motives of 
humanity prevailed, and he was suffered to go unpunished. 

On the next morning, March 3d, they proceeded on the ice to Middle Bass island, some 
17 miles from their encampment. Just before they left the lake shore, an ensign and 13 of the 
militia, one of the Indian chiefs and several of the Indians, deserted them. During their 
progress to the island, the weather was stormy, wind blowing and snowing, and in places it 
was quite slippery. They arrived at the northwest side of the island early in the afternoon, 
when the weather moderated. 

In the course of the afternoon, sled tracks were discovered on the ice, going in the direc¬ 
tion of Malden. These were presumed to have been made by two Frenchmen, who left 
Sandusky the day before the corps of Langham. They had then stated they were going to 
the river Huron, which was in an opposite direction: the officers now felt assured they 
were inimical to their designs, and were on their way to give the British notice of their 
intentions. Moreover, to the north of the island on which they were, the ice was weak, 
and the lake appeared to be broken up to the north. 


* MSS. journal of Joseph H. Larwill. 




WOOD COUNTY, 


527 


It being the intended route to go by the western Sister island, to elude the spies of the 
enemy, the guides gave it as their opinion that it was totally impossible to go to Malden ; 
that the river Detroit and the lake from the middle Sister were doubtless broken up, and 
that there was a possibility of getting as far north as the middle Sister ; but as the distance 
from that to Detroit river, 18 miles, had to be performed after night, they could not attempt 
going, being fully satisfied that they could not arrive at the point of destination, and as the 
weather was and had been soft, that, should a southerly wind blow up, the lake would in¬ 
evitably break up, and they might be caught on it or one of the islands. They then affirmed 
they had gone as far as they thought it either safe or prudent, and would not take the re¬ 
sponsibility on them any farther. Capt. Langham called the guides and officers together. 
He stated that he had been instructed to go no farther than the guides thought safe, asked 
the opinion of the officers, who unanimously decided that it was improper to proceed, and 
that they should return. 

The weather having slighly improved, although still unfavorable, a second council was 
called of the officers and guides, but with the same result. The captain then called the 
men and gave the opinion of their superiors, and presented the importance of the expedi¬ 
tion to the government should tliey succeed; on the other hand, he represented that they 
might be lost on the lake by the breaking up of the ice, without rendering any service to 
their country, who would thus be deprived of the choice troops of the army. The soldiers, 
on thus being called for their opinion, expressed themselves as ready to go wherever their 
officers would lead ; at the same time, said they should abide by the decision of their 
superiors, whose judgment was better than their own. 

Tl\e party returned by the way of Presque Isle, at which point they met Gen. Harrison 
with abody of troop§. From thence they proceeded to Fort Meigs in safety. In the course 
of their journey back, they found the lake open near the western Sister island.* 

On the 9th of March, the day being very fine, several of the men went down as far as the 
old British fort. Some of them discovered a party of Indians, and gave the alarm. The 
latter fired at them, and one man, while running, was shot through the left skirt of his coat. 
Luckily a hymn-book which he carried there received the ball, which was buried in ita 
leaves. The men escaped safely into the fort; but Lieut. Walker, who was out hunting 
wild fowl, was killed. His body was found the next day and brought into the fort, where 
his grave is to be seen at the present day. 

Harrison had determined, if possible, to regain Detroit, and in a measure atone for the 
disasters of the war in this quarter; but the weather had proved unfavorable for the trans¬ 
portation to Fort Meigs of a sufficient body of troops for such an object. His force there 
was diminished, soon after his arrival, by the expiration of the term of service of a part of 
those at the rapids, and nothing more was left for him but to remain on the defensive. 
Satisfied that, in his weakened condition, the enemy would make a descent from Malden 
upon the fort as soon as the ice broke up in the lake, he left in March for the interior, to 
hasten on all the troops he could raise to its defence. On the 12th of April he returned 
at the head of a detachment of troops, and applied himself with great assiduity to com¬ 
pleting the defences. 

About this time a Canadian Frenchman, with about a dozen of his own countrymen, all 
volunteers, had a desperate boat fight with an equal number of Indians in the river, near 
the north side of the large island below the fort, and defeated them. The whites were all 
either killed or wounded, except the captain and two of his men. As they were returning 
to the fort, they saw a solitary Indian, the sole survivor of his party, rise up in one of their 
two canoes and paddle to the shore. 

[ Explanations .— a , grand battery, commanded by Capt. Daniel 
Cushing; b, mortar battery ; e, z, o , minor batteries ; g, battery com¬ 
manded at the 2d siege by Col. (now Gen.) Gaines; c, magazines. 
The black squares on the lines of the fort represent the position of 
the block-houses. The dotted lines show the traverses, or walls of 
earth, thrown up. The longest, the grand traverse, had a base of 
20 feet, was 12 in height, and about 900 in length. The traverses 
running lengthwise of the fort, were raised as a protection against 
the batteries on the opposite side of the river, and those running 

* The foregoing narrative of this entcrprize is from the mss. journal of Joseph H. Larwill, 
who was a lieutenant in the party. 



528 


WOOD COUNTY. 


crosswise, were to defend them from the British batteries on this 
side. The British batteries on the north side of the river, were named 
as follows: a, queen’s; b , sailors; d, king’s, and c, mortar. The fort 



Fort Meigs and its Environs* 

stood upon high ground, on the margin of a bank, elevated about 60 
feet above the Maumee. The surface is nearly level, and is covered 
by a green sward. The outline of the fort is now well defined, and 
the grand traverse yet rises six or eight feet from the surrounding 
ground. The work originally covered about 10 acres, but was re¬ 
duced in area between the two sieges, to accommodate a smaller 
number of troops. Just above, a large number of sunken graves in¬ 
dicate the locality of the soldiers’ burying-ground. The graves of 
Lieut. Walker and Lieut. M’Cullough—the last of whom was shot 
while conversing with General Harrison—are within the fort. The 
first is surmounted by a small stone, with an inscription—the last is 
enclosed by a fence. (See page 328.) To understand the position 
of Fort Meigs, with reference to the British fort and surrounding 
country, see map on page 319.] 


* From the survey of Lieut. Joseph H. Larwill, made between the two 
1813. 


sieges, July 19th, 













WOOD COUNTY, 


529 


“ On the breaking up of the ice in Lake Erie, General Proctor, with all his disposable force, 
consisting of regulars and Canadian militia from Malden, and a large body of Indians 
under their celebrated chief, Tecumseh, amounting in the whole to two thousand men, laid 
siege to Fort Meigs. To encourage the Indians, he had promised them an easy conquest, 
and assured them that General Harrison should be delivered up to Tecumseh. On the 26th 
of April, the British columns appeared on the opposite bank of the river, and established 
their principal batteries on a commanding eminence opposite the fort. On the 27th, the 
Indians crossed the river, and established themselves in the rear of the American lines. 
The garrison, not having completed their wells, had no water except what they obtained 
from the river, under a constant firing of the enemy. On the first, second, and third of 
May, their batteries kept up an incessant shower of balls and shells upon the fort. On the 
night of the third, the British erected a gun and mortar battery on the left bank of the 
river, within two hundred and fifty yards of the American lines. The Indians climbed the 
trees in the neighborhood of the fort, and poured in a galling fire upon the garrison. In this 
situation General Harrison received a summons from Proctor for a surrender of the garri¬ 
son, greatly magnifying his means of annoyance ; this was answered by a prompt refusal, 
assuring the British general that if he obtained possession of the fort, it would not be by 
capitulation* Apprehensive of such an attack, General Harrison had made the governors 
of Kentucky and Ohio minutely acquainted with his situation, and stated to them the ne¬ 
cessity of reinforcements for the relief of Fort Meigs. His requisitions had been zealously 
anticipated, and General Clay was at this moment descending the Miami with twelve hun¬ 
dred Kentuckians for his relief. 

“ At twelve o’clock in the night of the fourth, an officert arrived from General Clay, with 
the welcome intelligence of his approach, stating that he was just above the rapids, and 
could reach him in two hours, and requesting his orders. Harrison determined on a general 
sally, and directed Clay to land eight hundred men on the right bank, take possession of the 
British batteries, spike their cannon, immediately return to their boats, and cross over to 
the American fort. The remainder of Clay’s force were ordered to land on the left bank, 
and fight their way to the fort, while sorties were to be made from the garrison in aid of 
these operations Captain Hamilton was directed to proceed up the river in a periauger, 
land a subaltern on the left bank, who should be a pilot to conduct Gen. Clay to the fort; 
and then cross over and station his periauger at the place designated for the other division 
to land. General Clay, having received these orders, descended the river in order of battle 
in solid columns, each officer taking position according to his rank. Col. Dudley, being 


* “ The conversation which took place between General Harrison and Major Chambers, 
of the British army, was, as nearly as can be recollected, as follows:— 

“ Major Chambers. —General Proctor has directed me to demand the surrender of this 
post. He wishes to spare the effusion of blood. 

“ General Harrison. —The demand under present circumstances, is a most extraordinary 
one. As General Proctor did not send me a summons to surrender on his first arrival, I 
had supposed that he believed me determined to do my duty. His present message indi¬ 
cates an opinion of me that I am at a loss to account for. 

“ Major Chambers. —General Proctor could never think of saying anything to wound 
your feelings, sir. The character of General Harrison, as an officer, is well known. Gen. 
Proctor’s force is very respectable, and there is with him a larger body of Indians than has 
ever before been embodied. 

“ General Harrison. —I believe I have a very correct idea of General Proctor’s force; it 
is not such as to create the least apprehension for the result of the contest, whatever shape 
he may be pleased hereafter to give to it. Assure the general, however, that he will never 
have this post surrendered to him upon any terms. Should it fall into his hands, it will 
be in a manner calculated to do him more honor, and to give him larger claims upon the 
gratitude of his government, than any capitulation could possibly do.” 

tThis messenger was Capt. William Oliver, now of Cincinnati, then a young man, 
noted for his heroic bravery, He had previously been sent from the fort at a time when it 
was surrounded by Indians, through the wilderness, with instructions to General Clay. His 
return to the fort was extremely dangerous. Capt. Leslie Coombs, now of Lexington, Ky., 
had been sent by Col. Dudley to communicate with Harrison. He approached the fort, 
and when within about a mile, was attacked by the Indians, and after a gallant resistance 
was foiled in his object and obliged to retreat with the loss of nearly all of his companions. 
Oliver managed to get into the fort through the cover of the darkness of the night, by which 
he eluded the vigilance of Tecumseh and his Indians, who were very watchful and had 
closely invested it.—H. H. 


67 



530 


WOOD COUNTY. 


the eldest in command, led the van, and was ordered to take the men in the twelve front 
boats, and execute General Harrison’s orders on the right bank. He effected his landing at 
the place designated, without difficulty. General Clay kept close along the left bank until 
he came opposite the place of Col. Dudley’s landing, but not finding the subaltern there, 
he attempted to cross over and join Col. Dudley ; this was prevented by the violence of 
the current on the rapids, and he again attempted to land on the left bank, and effected it 
with only fifty men amid a brisk fire from the enemy on shore, and made his way to the 
fort, receiving their fire until within the protection of its guns. The other boats under the 
command of Col. Boswell, were driven further down the current, and landed on the right 
to join Col. Dudley. Here they were ordered to re-embark, land on the left bank, and 
proceed to the fort. In the mean time two sorties were made from the garrison, one on 
the left, in aid of Col. Boswell, by which the Canadian militia and Indians were defeated, 
and he enabled to reach the fort in safety, and one on the right against the British batteries, 
which was also successful.”* 

“ Col. Dudley, with his detachment of eight hundred Kentucky militia, completely suc¬ 
ceeded in driving the British from their batteries, and spiking the cannon. Having accom¬ 
plished this object, his orders were peremptory to return immediately to his boats and cross 
over to the fort; but the blind confidence which generally attends militia when successful, 
proved their ruin. Although repeatedly ordered by Col. Dudley, and warned of their dan¬ 
ger, and called upon from the fort to leave the ground; and although there was abundant 
time for that purpose, before the British reinforcements arrived ; yet they commenced a 
pursuit of the Indians, and suffered themselves to be drawn into an ambuscade by some 
feint skirmishing, while the British troops and large bodies of Indians were brought up, 
and intercepted their return to the river.t Elated with their first success, they considered 

* “ The troops in this attack on the British battery were commanded by Col. John Miller, 
of the 19th United States regiment, and consisted of about 250 of the 17th and 19th Reg¬ 
iments, 100 twelve-month volunteers, and Capt. Seebre’s company of Kentucky militia. 
They were drawn up in a ravine under the east curtain of the fort, out of reach of the 
enemy’s fire ; but to approach the batteries it was necessary, after having ascended from 
the ravine, to pass a plain of 200 yards in width, in the woods beyond, which were the 
batteries protected by a company of grenadiers, and another of light infantry, upwards of 
200 strong. These troops were flanked on the right by two or three companies of Cana¬ 
dian militia, and on the left by a large body of Indians under Tecumseh. After passing 
along the ranks and encouraging the men to do their duty, the general placed himself upon 
the battery of the right rear angle, to witness the contest. The troops advanced with 
loaded, but trailed arms. They had scarcely reached the summit of the hill, when they 
received the fire of the British infantry. It did them little harm ; but the Indians being 
placed in position, and taking sight or aim, did great execution. They had not advanced 
more than fifty yards on the plain before it became necessary to halt and close the ranks. 
This was done with as much order by word of command from the officers as if they had 
been on parade. The charge was then made, and the enemy fled with so much precipita¬ 
tion that although many were killed none were taken. The general, from his position on 
the battery, seeing the direction that a part of them had taken, dispatched Major Todd 
with the reserve of about fifty regulars, who quickly returned with two officers and forty- 
three non-commissioned officers and privates. In this action the volunteers and militia 
suffered less than the regulars, because from their position the latter were much sooner un¬ 
masked by the hill, and received the first fire of all the enemy. It was impossible that 
troops could have behaved better than they did upon this sortie.” 

t After Dudley had spiked the batteries which had but few defenders, some of his men 
loitered about the banks and filled the air with cheers. Harrison, and a group of officers 
who were anxiously watching them from the grand battery (a,) with a presentiment of the 
horrible fate that awaited them, earnestly beckoned them to return. Supposing they were 
returning their cheers, they reiterated their shouts of triumph. Harrison seeing this, ex¬ 
claimed in tones of anguish, “ they are lost! they are lost /—can I never get men 
to obey my orders V’ He then offered a reward of a thousand dollars to any man who 
would cross the river and apprize Col. Dudley of his danger. This was undertaken by an 
officer. Upon arriving at the beach he attempted to launch a large perogue which was 
drawn up there, but before this could be effected, and he with the assistance of some men 
could reach the middle of the river, the enemy had already arrived in force from below. 

This defeat of Dudley was occasioned by the impetuous valor of his men. In one of 
the general orders after the 5th of May, Harrison takes occasion to warn his men against 
that rash bravery which he says “ is characteristic of fhe Kentucky troops, and if persisted 
in is as fatal in its results as cowardice.” 




WOOD COUNTY. 


531 


the victory as already gained, and pursued the enemy nearly two miles into the woods and 
swamps, where they were suddenly caught in a defile and surrounded by double their num¬ 
bers. Finding themselves in this situation, consternation prevailed ; their line became 
broken and disordered, and huddled together in unresisting crowds, they were obliged to 
surrender to the mercy of the savages. Fortunately for these unhappy victims of their 
own rashness, General Tecumseh commanded at this ambuscade and had imbibed since 
his appointment more humane feelings than his brother Proctor. After the surrender and 
all resistance had ceased, the Indians, finding five hundred prisoners at their mercy, began 
the work of massacre with the most savage delight. Tecumseh sternly forbade it, and 
buried his tomahawk in the head of one of his chiefs who refused obedience. This order 
accompanied with this decisive manner of enforcing it, put an end to the massacre. Of 
eight hundred men only one hundred and fifty escaped. The residue were slain or made 
prisoners. Colonel Dudley was severely wounded in the action, and afterwards toma¬ 
hawked and scalped. 

“ Proctor, seeing no prospect of taking the fort, and finding his Indians fast leaving him, 
raised the siege on the 9th of May, and returned with precipitation to Malden Tecumseh 
and a considerable portion of the Indians remained in service ; but large numbers left it in 
disgust, and were ready to join the Americans. On the left bank, in the several sorties 
of the 5th of May, and during the siege, the American loss was eighty-one killed and one 
hundred and eighty-nine wounded.” 

When the enemy raised the siege, they gave a parting salute, which 
killed 10 or 12, and wounded double that number. “ However,” says 
one who was present, “ we were glad enough to see them off on any 
terms. The next morning found us something more tranquil; we 
could leave the ditches, and walk about with something more of an 
air of freedom than we had done for the last 14 days ; and here I 
wish I could present to the reader a picture of the condition we found 
ourselves in, when the withdrawal of the enemy gave us time to look 
at each other’s outward appearance. The scarcity of water had 
put the washing of our hands and faces, much less our linen, out of 
the question. Many had scarcely any clothing left, and that which 
they wore was so begrimmed and torn by our residence in the ditch 
and other means, that we presented the appearance of so many 
scarecrows.” 

The British force under Proctor, during the siege, amounted, as 
nearly as could be ascertained, to 3200 men, of whom 600 were 
British regulars, 800 Canadian militia, and 1800 Indians. Those 
under Harrison, including the troops who arrived on the morning of 
the 5th, under Gen. Clay, were about 1200. The number of his men 
fit for duty, was, perhaps, less than 1100. 

We give below an extract from an article on the siege of Fort 
Meigs, by Rev. A. M. Lorraine, originally published in the Ladies’ 
Repository, for March, 1845. 

One afternoon, as numbers were gathered together on the “ parade,” two strangers, 
finely mounted, appeared on the western bank of the river, and seemed to be taking a very 
calm and deliberate survey of our works. It was a strange thing to see travellers in that 
wild country, and we commonly held such to be enemies, until they proved themselves to 
be friends. So one of our batteries was cleared forthwith, and the gentlemen were saluted 
with a shot that tore up the earth about them, and put them to a hasty flight. If that ball 
had struck its mark, much bloodshed might have been prevented ; for we learned subse¬ 
quently that our illustrious visitors were Proctor and Tecumseh. The garrison was imme¬ 
diately employed in cutting deep traverses through the fort, taking down the tents and 
preparing for a siege. The work accomplished in a few hours, under the excitement of the 
occasion, was prodigious. The grand traverse being completed, each mess was ordered to 
excavate, under the embankment, suitable lodgings, as substitutes for our tents. Those 


532 


WOOD COUNTY. 


rooms were shot proof and bomb proof, except in the event of a shell falling in the traverse 
and at the mouth of a cave. 

The above works were scarcely completed before it was discovered that the enemy, 
under cover of night, had construcied batteries on a commanding hill north of the river. 
There their artillery men were posted; but the principal part of their army occupied the 
old English fort below. Their Indian allies appeared to have a roving commis-ion, for 
they beset us on every side. The cannonading commenced in good earnest on both sides. 
It was, however, more constant on the British side, because they had a more extensive 
mark to baiter. We had nothing to fire at but their batteries, but they were coolly and 
deliberately attended to ; and it was believed that more than one of their guns were dis¬ 
mount ed during the siege. One of our militia men took his station on the embankment, 
and gratuitously forewarned us of every shot. In this he became so skillful, that he could, 
in almost every case, predict the destination of the ball. As soon as the smoke issued from 
the muzzle of the gun, he would cry out “ shot,” or “ bomb,” as the case might be. Some¬ 
times he would exclaim, “ block-house No. I,” or “ look out, main battery ;” “ now for the 
meat-house ;” “ good-by, if you will pass.” In spite of all the expostulations of his fnends, 
he maintained his post. One day there came a shot that seemed to defy all his calcula¬ 
tions. He stood silent—motionless—perplexed. In the same instant he was swept into 
eternity. Poor man! he should have considered, that when there was no obliquity in the 
issue of the smoke, either to the right or left, above or below, the fatal messenger would 
travel in the direct line ofhis vision He reminded me of the peasant, in the siege of Jeru¬ 
salem, who cried out, “ woe to the city! woe to the temple ! woe to myself!” On the most 
active day of the investment, there were as many as five hundred cannon balls and bombs* 
thrown at our fort. Meantime, the Indians, climbing up into the trees, fired incessantly 
upon us. Such was their distance, that many of their balls barely reached us, and fell harm¬ 
less to the ground. Occasionally they inflicted dangerous and even fatal wounds. The 
number killed in the fort was small, considering the profusion of powder and ball expended 
on us. About eighty were slain, many wounded, and several had to suffer the amputation 
of limbs. The most dangerous duty which we performed within the precincts of the fort, 
was in covering the magazine. Previous to this, the powder had been deposited in wagons, 
and these stationed in the traverse. Here there was no security against bombs; it was 
therefore thought to be prudent to remove the powder into a small block-house, and cover 
it with earth. The enemy, judging our designs from our movements, now directed all their 
shot to this point. Many of their balls were red-hot. Wherever they struck, they raised 
a cloud of smoke, and made a frightful hissing. An officer, passing our quarters, said, 
“ boys, who will volunteer to cover the magazine V* Fool-like, away several of us went. 
As soon as we reached the spot, there came a ball and took off one man’s head. The spades 
and dirt flew faster than any of us had before witnessed. In the midst of our job, a bomb¬ 
shell fell on the roof, and lodging on one of the braces it spun round for a moment. Every 
soldier fell prostrate on his face, and with breathless horror awaited the vast explosion which 


* A large number of cannon balls were thrown into the fort, from the batteries on the 
opposite side of ‘he river. Being short of a supply, Harrison offered a gill of whiskey for 
every cannon ball delivered to the magazine keeper, Mr. Thomas L. Hawkins, now re¬ 
siding at Lower Sandusky. Over 1000 gills of whiskey were thus earned by the sol¬ 
diers. 

For safety against bombs, each man had a hole dug under ground in rear of the grand 
traverse, which, being covered over with plank, and earth on top, fully protected them. 
When the cry bomb w'as heard, the soldiers either threw themselves upon the ground, or ran 
to the holes for safety. A bomb is most destructive when it bursts in the air, but it rarely 
explodes in that way : it usually falls with so much force as to penetrate the earth, and when 
it explodes, flies upwards and in an angular direction, in consequence of the pressure of the 
earth beneath and at its sides; consequently, a person lying on the ground is comparatively 
safe. 

A heavy rain at last filled up the holes, rendering them uninhabitable, and the men were 
obliged to temporarily sleep in their tents. Then every once in a while, the startling cry, 
“ bomb !” aroused them from their slumbers. Rushing from their tents, they watched the 
course of the fiery messenger of death, as it winged its way through the midnight sky, and 
if it fell near, fall flat upon the ground ; otherwise, return to their tents, only to be aroused 
again and again by the startling cry. So harrassing was this, so accustomed had the men 
become to the danger, and so overpowering the desire for sleep, that many of the soldiers 
remained in their tents locked in the embrace of sleep, determined, as one said, not to be 
disturbed in their slumbers “ if ten thousand bombs burst all around them.”— H. II. 



WOOD COUNTY. 


533 


we expected would crown all our earthly sufferings. Only one of all the gang presumed to 
reason on the case. He silently argued that, as the shell had not bursted as quick as usual, 
there might be something wrong in its arrangement. If it bursted where it was, and the 
magazine exploded, there could be no escape: it was death any how ; so he sprung to his 
feet, seized a boat-hook, and pulling the hissing missile to the ground, and jerking the 
smoking match from its socket, discovered that the shell was filled with inflammable mat¬ 
ter, which, if once ignited, would have wrapped the whole building in a sheet of flame. 
This circumstance added wings to our shovels; and we were right glad when the officer 
said, “ that will do: go to your lines.” 

The following particulars of the defeat of Col. Dudley were pub¬ 
lished in a public print many years since by Joseph R. Underwood, 
who was present on the occasion, in the capacity of lieutenant in a 
volunteer company of Kentuckians, commanded by Captain John C. 
Morrison. 

After a fatiguing march of more than a month, Gen. Clay’s brigade found itself, on the 
night of the 4th of May, on board of open boats, lashed to the left bank of Miami of the 
Lakes, near the head of the rapids, and within hearing of the cannon at Fort Meigs, which 
was then besieged by the British and Indians. Very early on the morning of the 5th, we 
set off, and soon began to pass the rapids. We were hailed by a man from the right bank, 
who proved to be Captain Hamilton, of the Ohio troops, with orders from Gen. Harrison, 
then commanding at the fort. He was taken to the boat of General Clay’s, and from that 
to Col. Dudley’s, this last being in advance of the whole line. Captain Morrison’s com¬ 
pany occupied the boat in which the colonel descended. It being a damp, unpleasant 
morning, I was lying in the stern, wrapped in my blanket, not having entirely recovered 
from a severe attack of the measles. I learned that we were to land on the left bank, 
storm the British batteries erected for the purpose of annoying the fort; but what further 
orders were given, I did not ascertain. Hearing that we were certainly to fight, I began 
to look upon all surrounding objects as things which to me might soon disappear forever, 
and my mind reverted to my friends at home, to bid them a final farewell. These reflec¬ 
tions produced a calm melancholy, but nothing like trepidation or alarm. My reveries 
were dissipated by the landing of the boat, about a mile or two above the point of attack. 
Shortly before we landed, we were fired upon by some Indians from the right bank of the 
river, and I understood that Captain Clarke was wounded in the head. The fire was re¬ 
turned from our boats, and the Indians fled, as if to give intelligence of our approach. 
Captain Price and Lieutenant Sanders, of the regular army, landed with us and partook in 
the engagement, having under command a few regular soldiers, but I think not a full com¬ 
pany. The whole number of troops that landed, amounted probably to 700 men. We 
were formed on the shore in three parallel lines, and ordered to march for the battery at 
right angles with the river; and so far as I understood the plan of attack, one line was to 
form the line of battle in the rear of the battery, parallel with the river; the other two 
lines to form one above and one below the battery, at right angles to the ' iver. The lines 
thus formed were ordered to advance, and did so, making as little noise as possible—the 
object being to surprise the enemy at their battery. Before we reached the battery, how¬ 
ever, we were discovered by some straggling Indians, who fired upon us and then retreated. 
Our men pleased at seeing them run, and perceiving that we were discovered, no longer 
deemed silence necessary, and raised a tremendous shout. This was the first intimation 
that the enemy received of our approach, and it so alarmed them that they abandoned the 
battery without making any resistance. In effectuating the plan of attack. Captain J. C. 
Morrison’s company were thrown upon the river, above the battery. While passing through 
a thicket of hazel, toward the river, in forming the line of battle, I saw Colonel Dudley for 
the last time. He was greatly excited; he railed at me for not keeping my men better 
dressed. I replied, that he must perceive from the situation of the ground, and the ob¬ 
stacles that we had to encounter, that it was impossible. When we came within a small 
distance from the river, we halted. The enemy at this place had gotten in the rpar of our 
line, formed parallel with the river, and were firing upon our troops. Capt. J. C. Morrison’s 
company did not long remain in this situation. Having nothing to do, and being without 
orders, we determined to march our company out and join the combatants. We did so 
accordingly. In passing out, we fell on the left of the whole regiment, and were soon 
engaged in a severe conflict. The Indians endeavored to flank and surround us. We 
drove them between one and two miles, directly back from the river. They hid behind 
trees and logs, and poured upon us, as we advanced, a most destructive fire. We were 


534 


WOOD COUNTY. 


from time to time ordered to charge. The orders were passed along the lines, our field 

officers being on foot.Shortly after this, Capt. J. C. Morrison was shot 

through the temples. The ball passing behind the eyes and cutting the optic nerve, deprived 

him of his sight.Having made the best arrangement for the safety of my 

much esteemed captain that circumstances allowed, I took charge of the company and 
continued the battle. We made several charges afterwards, and drove the enemy a con¬ 
siderable distance.At length orders were passed along the line directing us 

to fall back and keep up a retreating fire. As soon as this movement was made, the In¬ 
dians were greatly encouraged, and advanced upon us with the most horrid yells. Once 
or twice the officers succeeded in producing a temporary halt and a fire on the Indians; 
but the soldiers of the different companies soon became mixed—confusion ensued—and a 
general rout took place. The retreating army made its way towards the batteries, where 
I supposed we should be able to form and repel the pursuing Indians. They were now so 
close in the rear, as to frequently shoot down those who were before me. About this time 
I received a ball in my back, which yet remains in my body. It struck me with a stunning, 
deadening force, and I fell on my hands and knees. I rose and threw my waistcoat open 
to see whether it had passed through me ; finding it had not, I ran on, and had not pro¬ 
ceeded more than a hundred or two yards before I was made a prisoner. In emerging 
from the woods into an open piece of ground, near the battery we had taken, and before I 
knew what had happened, a soldier seized my sword and said to me, “ Sir! you are my 
prisoner!” I looked before me and saw, with astonishment, the ground covered with 
muskets. The soldier, observing my astonishment, said: “ your army has surrendered,” 
and received my sword. He ordered me to go forward and join the prisoners. I did so. 
The first man I met whom I recognized, was Daniel Smith, of our company. With eyes 
full of tears, he exclaimed : “ Good Lord, lieutenant, what does all this mean.” I told him 
we were prisoners of war. . . . 

On our march to the garrison, the Indians began to strip us of our valuable clothing and 
other articles. One took my hat, another my hunting shirt, and a third my waistcoat, so 
that I was soon left with nothing but my shirt and pantaloons. I saved my watch by con¬ 
cealing the chain, and it proved of great service to me afterwards. Having read, when a 
boy, Smith’s narrative of his residence among the Indians, my idea of their character was 
that they treated those best who appeared the most fearless. Under this impression, as we 
marched down to the old garrison, I looked at those whom we met with all the sternness 
of countenance I could command. I soon caught the eye of a stout warrior painted red. 
He gazed at me with as much sternness as I did at him, until I came within striking dis¬ 
tance, when he gave me a severe blow over the nose and cheek bone with his wiping stick. 
I abandoned the notion acquired from Smith, and went on afterwards with as little display 
of hauteur and defiance as possible. 

On our approach to the old garrison, the Indians formed a line to the left of the road, 
there being a perpendicular bank to the right, on the margin of which the road passed. I 
perceived that the prisoners were running the gauntlet, and that the Indians were whipping, 
shooting and tomahawking the men as they ran by their line. When I reached the start¬ 
ing place, I dashed off as fast as I was able, and ran near the muzzles of their guns, know¬ 
ing that they would have to shoot me while I was immediately in front, or let me pass, for 
to have turned their guns up or down the lines to shoot me, would have endangered them¬ 
selves, as there was a curve in their line. In this way I passed without injury, except some 
strokes over the shoulders with their gun-sticks. As I entered the ditch around the garri¬ 
son, the man before me was shot and fell, and I fell over him. The passage for a w’hile 
was stopped by those \yho fell over the dead man and myself. How many lives were lost 
at this place I cannot tell—probably between 20 and 40. The brave Captain Lewis was 
among the number. When we got within the walls, we were ordered to sit down. I lay 
in the lap of Mr. Gilpin, a soldier of Captain Henry’s company, from Woodford. A new 
scene commenced. An Indian, painted black, mounted the dilapidated wall, and shot one 
of the prisoners next to him. He re-loaded and shot a second, the ball passing through 
him into the hip of another, who afterwards died, I was informed, at Cleveland, of the 
wound. The savage then laid down his gun and drew his tomahawk, with which he 
killed two others. When he drew his tomahawk and jumped down among the men, they 
endeavored to escape from him by leaping over the heads of each other, and thereby to 
place others between themselves and danger. Thus they were heaped upon one another, 
and as I did not rise, they trampled upon me so that I could see nothing that was going 
on. The confusion and uproar of this moment cannot be adequately described. There 
was an excitement among the Indians, and a fierceness in their conversation, which be¬ 
tokened on the part of some a strong disposition to massacre the whole of us. The British 



WOOD COUNTY. 


535 


officers and soldiers seemed to interpose to prevent the farther effusion of blood. Their ex¬ 
pression was—“ Oh, nichee, wall meaning, “ oh! brother, quit!” After the Indian who 
had occasioned this horrible scene, had scalped and stripped his victims, he left us, and a 
comparative calm ensued. The prisoners resumed their seats on the ground. While thus 
situated, a tall, stout Indian walked into the midst of us, drew a long butcher knife from 
his belt and commenced whetting it. As he did so, he looked around among the prisoners, 
apparently selecting one for the gratification of his vengeance. I viewed his conduct, and 
thought it probable that he was to give the signal for a general massacre. But after ex¬ 
citing our fears sufficiently for his satisfaction, he gave a contemptuous grunt and went out 
from among us. 

About this time, but whether before or after I do not distinctly recollect, Col. Elliott and 
Tecumseh, the celebrated Indian chief, rode into the garrison. When Elliott came to where 
Thomas Moore, of Clarke county, stood, the latter addressed him, and inquired “ if it was 
compatible with the honor of a civilized nation, such as the British claimed to be, to suffer 
defenceless prisoners to be murdered by savages!” Elliott desired to know who he was. 
Moore replied that he was nothing but a private in Captain Morrison’s company—and the 
conversation ended. . . . Elliott was an old man—his hair might have been termed, 

with more propriety, white than gray, and to my view he had more of the savage in his 
countenance than Tecumseh. This celebrated chief was a noble, dignified personage. He 
wore an elegant broadsword, and was dressed in the Indian costume. His face was finely 
proportioned, his nose inclined to the aquiline, and his eye displayed none of that savage 
and ferocious triumph common to the other Indians on that occasion. He seemed to re¬ 
gard us with unmoved composure, and I thought a beam of mercy shone in his counte¬ 
nance, tempering the spirit of vengeance inherent in his race against the American people. 
I saw him only on horseback. . . . 

Shortly after the massacre in the old garrison, I was the subject of a generous act. A 
soldier with whom I had no acquaintance, feeling compassion for my situation, stripped off 
my clothes, muddy and bleeding, offered me his hunting shirt, which the Indians had not 
taken from him. At first I declined receiving it, but he pressed it upon me with an earnest¬ 
ness that indicated great magnanimity. I inquired his name and residence. He said that 
his name was James Boston, that he lived in Clarke county, and belonged to Capt. Clarke’s 
company. I have never since seen him, and regret that I should never be able to recall his 
features if I were to see him. 

Upon the arrival of Elliott and Tecumseh, we were directed to stand up and form in 
lines, I think four deep, in order to be counted. After we were thus arranged, a scene 
transpired scarcely less affecting than that which I have before attempted faintly to describe. 
The Indians began to select the young men whom they intended to take with them to their 
towns. Numbers were carried off. I saw. Corporal Smith, of our company, bidding fare¬ 
well to his friends, and pointing to the Indian with whom he was to go-. I never heard of 
his return. The young men, learning their danger, endeavored to av&id It 'ty crowding 
into the centre, where they could not be so readily reached. 1 was told that a quizzical 
youth, of diminutive size, near the outside, seeing what was going on, threw himself upon 
his hands and kndes, and rushed through the legs of his comrades, exclaiming, “ Hoot, 
little hog, or die.” Such is the impulse of self-preservation, and such the levity with 
which men inured to danger will regard it. Pyving to my wound, I could not scuffle, and 
was thrust to the outside. An Indian came up /to me and gave me a piece of meat. I 
took this for proof that he intended carrying me off with him. Thinking it the best policy 
to act with confidence, I made a sign to him to give me his butcher knife—which he did. 
I divided the meat with those who stood near me, reserving a small piece for myself—more 
as a show of politeness to the savage, than to gratify any appetite I had for it. After I had 
eaten it and returned the knife, he turned and left me. When it was near night, we were 
taken in open boats about nine miles down the river, to the British shipping. On the day 
after, we were visited by the Indians in their bark canoes, in order to make a display of 
their scalps. These they strung on a pole, perhaps two inches in diameter, and about 
eight feet high. The pole was set up perpendicularly in the bow of their canoes, and near 
the top the scalps were fastened. On some poles I saw four or five. Each scalp was 
drawn closely over a hoop about four inches in diameter; and the flesh sides, I thought, 
were painted red. Thus their canoes were decorated with a flag-staff of a most appro¬ 
priate character, bearing human scalps, the horrid ensigns of savage warfare. We re¬ 
mained six days on board the vessel—those of us, I mean, who were sick and wounded. 
The whole of us were discharged on parole. The officers signed an instrument in writing, 
pledging their honors not to serve against the king of Great Britain and his allies during 
the war, unless regularly exchanged. It was inquired whether the Indians were included 


536 


WOOD COUNTY. 


in the term “ allies.” The only answer was, “ that his majesty’s allies were known.” The 
wounded and sick were taken in a vessel commanded by Captain Stewart, at the mouth, 
I think, of Vermillion river, and there put on shore. I afterwards saw Captain Stewart, a 
prisoner of war at Frankfort, Kentucky, together with a midshipman, who played Yankee 
Doodle on a flute, by way of derision, when we were first taken on board his vessel. Such 
is the fortune of war. They were captured by Commodore Perry, in the battle of Lake 
Erie. I visited Captain Stewart to requite his kindness to me when, like him, I was a 
prisoner. 

The following is a British account of the siege of Fort Meigs, 
from the London New Monthly Magazine for December, 1826 , 
written by an officer in their army. 

Far from being discouraged by the discomfiture of their armies under Generals Hull and 
Winchester, the Americans dispatched a third and more formidable one under one of their 
most experienced commanders, General Harrison, who, on reaching Fort Meigs, shortly 
subsequent to the affair at Frenchtown, directed his attention to the erection of works, 
which in some measure rendered his position impregnable. Determined, if possible, to 
thwart the movements of the enemy, and give the finishing stroke to his movements in that 
quarter, General Proctor (lately promoted) ordered an expedition to be in readiness to 
move for the Miami. Accordingly, towards the close of April, a detachment of the 41st, 
some militia and 1500 Indians, accompanied by a train of battering artillery, and attended 
by two gun-boats, proceeded up that river and established themselves on the left bank, at 
the distance of a mile, and selected the site for our batteries. The season was unusually wet, 
yet in defiance of every obstacle, they were erected in the same night, in front of the Amer¬ 
ican fortress, and the guns transported along the road in which the axle-trees of the car¬ 
riages were frequently buried in mud. Among other battering pieces were two twenty- 
four pounders, in the transportation of which 200 men, with several oxen, were employed 
from 9 o’clock at night, until daylight in the morning. At length, every precaution having 
been made, a gun fired from one of the boats was the signal for their opening, and early 
on the morning of the 1st of May, a heavy fire was commenced, and continued for four 
days without intermission, during which period every one of the enemies’ batteries were 
silenced and dismantled. The fire of the twenty-four pound battery was principally directed 
against the powder magazine, which the besieged were busily occupied in covering and pro¬ 
tecting from our hot shot. It was impossible to have artillery better served: every shot 
that was fired sank into the roof of the magazine, scattering the earth to a considerable 
distance, and burying many of the workmen in its bed, from which we could distinctly see 
their survivors dragging forth the bodies of their slaughtered companions. Meanwhile the 
flank companies of the 41st, with a few Indians, had been dispatched to the opposite shore, 
within a few hundred yards of the enemy’s works, and had constructed a battery, from 
which a galling cross-fire was sustained. Dismayed at the success of our exertions, Gen. 
Harrison, before our arrival, already apprised of the approach of a reinforcement of 1500 
men, then descending the Miami, under General Clay, contrived to dispatch a courier on 
the evening of the 4th, with an order to that officer to land immediately and possess him¬ 
self of our batteries on the left bank, while he (General Harrison) sallied forth to carry 
those on the right. Accordingly, at 3 o’clock on the morning of the 5th, General Clay* 
pushed forward the whole of his force, and meeting with no opposition at the batteries, 
which were entirely unsupported, proceeded to spike the guns, in conformity w'ith his instruc¬ 
tions ; but elated with his success, and disobeying the positive orders of his chief, which 
was to retire the instant the object was effected, continued to occupy the position. In the 
meantime, the flying artillery-men had given the alarm, and three companies of the 41st, 
several of militia, and a body of Indians, the latter under the command of their celebrated 
chieftain, Tecumseh, were ordered to immediately move and re-possess themselves of the 
works. The rain, which had commenced falling in the morning, continued to fall with 
violence, and the road, as has already been described, w r as knee deep in mud ; yet the men 
advanced to the assault with the utmost alacrity and determination. The enemy, on our 
approach, had sheltered themselves behind the batteries, affording them every facility of 
defence. Yet they were driven at the point of the bayonet from each in succession, until 
eventually not a man was left in the plain. Flying to the woods, the murderous fire of the 
Indians drove them back upon their pursuers, so that they had no possibility of escape. A 
vast number were killed, and independently of the prisoners taken by the Indians, 450, with 
their second in command, fell into our hands. Every man of the detachment, on this oc- 


* This is an error, as the reader will perceive. 



WOOD COUNTY. 


537 


casion, acquitted himself to the entire satisfaction of his superiors. Among the most con¬ 
spicuous for gallantry, was Major Chambers, of the 41st, acting deputy quarter-general to 
the division. Supported by merely four or five followers, this meritorious officer advanced 
under a shower of bullets from the enemy, and carried one of the batteries, sword in hand. 
A private of the same regiment being opposed, in an isolated condition, to three Americans, 
contrived to disarm them and render them his prisoners. On joining his company at the 
close of the affair,'-he excited much mirth among his comrades, in consequence of the sin¬ 
gular manner in which he appeared, sweating beneath the weight of arms he had secured 
as trophies of victory, and driving his captives before him with an indifference and care¬ 
lessness which contrasted admirably with the occasion. Of the whole of the division 
under General Clay, scarce 200 men effected their escape. Among the fugitives was that 
officer himself. The sortie made by General Harrison, at the head of the principal part of 
the garrison, had a different result. The detachment supporting the battery already 
described, were driven from their position, and two officers, Lieutenants M’lntyre and 
Hailes, and thirty men were made prisoners. Meanwhile it had been discovered that the 
guns on the left bank, owing to some error on the part of the enemy, had been spiked with 
the ramrods of the muskets, instead of the usual instruments: they were speedily rendered 
serviceable, and the fire from the batteries renewed. At this moment a white flag was 
observed waving on the ramparts of the fort, and the courage and perseverance of the 
troops appeared about to be crowned with the surrender of a fortress, the siege of which 
had cost them so much toil and privation. Such, however, was far from being the inten¬ 
tion of General Harrison. Availing himself of the cessation of hostilities which neces¬ 
sarily ensued, he caused the officers and men just captured to be sent across the river for 
the purpose of being exchanged; but this was only a feint for the accomplishment of a 
more important object. 

Drawing up his whole force, cavalry and infantry, on the plain beneath the fortress, he 
caused such of the boats of General Clay’s division as were laden with ammunition, in 
which the garrison stood in much need, to be dropped under the works, and the stores im¬ 
mediately disembarked. All this took place in the period occupied for the exchange of 
prisoners. The remaining boats, containing the private baggage and stores of the divis¬ 
ion, fell, into the hands of the Indians still engaged in the pursuit of the fugitives, and the 
plunder they acquired was immense. General Harrison having secured his stores, and 
received the officers and men exchanged for his captives, withdrew into the garrison, and 
the bombardment was recommenced. 

The victory obtained at the Miami, was such as to reflect credit on every branch of the 
service ; but the satisfaction arising from the conviction, was deeply embittered by an act 
of cruelty, which, as the writer of an impartial memoir, it becomes my painful duty to re¬ 
cord. In the heat of the action, a strong corps of the enemy, which had thrown down 
their arms and surrendered prisoners of w r ar, were immediately dispatched under an escort 
of 50 men, for the purpose of being embarked in the gun-boats, where it was presumed 
they would be safe from the attacks of the Indians. This measure, although dictated by 
the purest humanity, and apparently offering the most probable means of security, proved 
of fatal import to several of the prisoners. On reaching our encampment, then entirely 
deserted by the troops, they were met by a band of cowardly and treacherous Indians, 
who had borne no share in the action, yet who now, guided by the savage instinct of their 
nature, approached the column, and selecting their victims, commenced the work of blood. 
In vain did the harrassed and indignant escort endeavor to save them from the fury of their 
destroyers. The phrenzy of these wretches knew no. bounds, and an old and excellent 
soldier named Russell, of the 41st, was shot through the heart, while endeavoring to wrest 
a victim from the grasp of his murderer. Forty of these unhappy men had already fallen 
beneath the steel of the infuriated party, when Tecumseh, apprised of what was doing, 
rode up at full speed, and raising his tomahawk, threatened to destroy the first man who 
refused to desist. Even on those lawless people, to whom the language of coercion had 
hitherto been unknown, the threats and tone of the exasperated chieftain, produced an in- 
stantaneons effect, and they retired at once humiliated and confounded.* 


* Drake, in his life of Tecumseh, in quoting a letter from Wm. G. Ewing to John H. 
James, Esq., of Urbana, gives full particulars of Tecumseh’s interference on this occasion, 
which we here copy. 

“ While this blood-thirsty carnage was raging, a thundering voice was heard in the rear, 
in the Indian tongue, when, turning round, he saw Tecumseh coming with all the rapidity 
his horse could carry him, until he drew near to where two Indians had an American, and 
were in the act of killing him. He sprang from his horse, caught one by the throat and 

68 



538 


WOOD COUNTY. 


The survivors of this melancholy catastrophe were immediately conveyed on board the 
gun-boats, moored in the river, and every precaution having been taken to prevent a re¬ 
newal of the scene, the escorting party proceeded to the interment of the victims, to whom 
the rites of sepulture were afforded, even before those of our own men, who had fallen in 
the action. Col. Dudley, second in command of Gen. Clay’s division, was among the 
number of the slain. 

On the evening of the second day after this event, I accompanied Maj. Muir, of the 41st, 
in a ramble throughout the encampment of the Indians, distant some few hundred yards 
from our own. The spectacle there offered to our view, was at once of the most ludicrous 
and revolting nature. In various directions were lying the trunks and boxes taken in the 
boats of the American division, and the plunderers were busily occupied in displaying their 
riches, carefully examining each article, and attempting to divine its use. Several were 
decked out in the uniforms of the officers; and although embarrassed in the last degree in 
their movements, and dragging with difficulty the heavy military boots with which their legs 
were for the first time covered, strutted forth much to the admiration of their less fortu¬ 
nate comrades. Some were habitecf in plainclothes ; others had their bodies clad with clean 
white shirts, contrasting in no ordinary manner, with the swarthiness of their skins; all 
wore some articles of decoration, and their tents were ornamented with saddles, bridles, 
rifles, daggers, swords and pistols, many of which were handsomely mounted and of curious 
workmanship. Such was the ridiculous part of the picture ; but mingled with these, and 
in various directions, were to be seen the scalps of the slain drying in the sun, stained on 
the fleshy side with Vermillion dyes, and dangling in air, as they hung suspended from the 
poles to which they were attached, together with hoops of various sizes, on which were 
stretched portions of human skin, taken from various parts of the human body, principally 
the hand and foot, and yet covered with the nails of those parts; while scattered along the 
ground were visible the members from which they had been separated, and serving as nu¬ 
triment to the wolf-dogs by which the savages were accompanied. 

As we continued to advance into the heart of the encampment, a scene of a more dis¬ 
gusting nature arrested our attention. Stopping at the entrance of a tent occupied by the 
Minoumini tribe, we observed them seated around a large fire, over which was suspended 
a kettle containing their meal. Each warrior had a piece of string hanging over the edge 
of the vessel, and to this was suspended a food, which, it will be presumed we heard not 
without loathing, consisted of a part of an American ; any expression of our feelings, as 
we declined the invitation they gave us to join in their repast, would have been resented 
by the Indians without much ceremony. We had, therefore, the prudence to excuse our¬ 
selves under the plea that we had already taken our food, and we hastened to remove from 
a sight so revolting to humanity. 

Since the affair of the 5th, the enemy continued to keep themselves shut up within their 
works, and the bombardment, although carried on with vigor, had effected no practicable 
breach. From the account given by the officers captured during the sortie, it appears that, 
with a perseverance and toil peculiar to themselves, the Americans had constructed sub¬ 
terranean passages to protect them from the annoyance of our shells, which sinking into 
the clay, softened by the incessant rains that had fallen, instead of exploding were speedily 
extinguished. Impatient of longer privations, and anxious to return to their families and 
occupations, numbers of the militia withdrew themselves in small bodies, and under cover 
of the night; while the majority of Indians, enriched by plunder and languishing under the 
tediousness of a mode of warfare so different from their own, with less ceremony and cau¬ 
tion, left us to prosecute the siege as we could. 

Tecumseh at the head of his own tribe, (the Shawnees,) and a few others, amounting in 
all to about 400 warriors, continued to remain. The troops also were worn down with 
constant fatigue ; for here, as in every other expedition against the enemy, few even of 
the officers had tents to shield them from the weather. A few pieces of bark torn from 


the other by the breast, and threw them to the ground; drawing his tomahawk and scalp¬ 
ing knife, he ran in between the Americans and Indians, brandishing them with the fury 
of a mad man, and daring any one of the hundreds that surrounded him, to attempt to 
murder another American. They all appeared confounded, and immediately desisted. His 
mind appeared rent with passion, and he exclaimed almost with tears in his eyes, “ Oh! 
what will become of my Indians.” He then demanded in an authoritative tone,’ where. 
Proctor was; but casting his eye upon him at a small distance, sternly inquired why’he had 
not put a stop to the inhuman massacre. « Sir,” said Proctor, “ your Indians cannot be 
commanded.” “Begone !” retorted Tecumseh, with the greatest disdain, “ you are unfit 
to command ; go and put on petticoats.” 




WOOD COUNTY. 


539 


the trees, and co\ering the skeleton of a hut, was their only habitation, and they were 
merely separated from the damp earth on which they lay, by a few scattered leaves, on 
which was generally spread a blanket by the men, and a cloak by the officers. Hence, 
frequently arose dysentery, ague, and the various ills to which an army encamped on a wet 
and unhealthy ground, is inevitably subject; and fortunate was he who possessed the skin 
of a bear or buffalo, on which he could repose his wearied limbs, after a period of suffering 
and privation, which those who have never served in the wilds of America, can with diffi¬ 
culty comprehend. Such was the position of the contending parties towards the middle of 
May, when Gen. Proctor, despairing to effect the reduction of the fort, caused preparations 
to be made for the raising the siege. Accordingly the gun-boats ascended the river, and 
anchored under the batteries, the guns of which were conveyed on board under a heavy 
fire from the enemy. The whole being secured, the expedition returned to Amherstburg, 
the Americans remained tranquil within their works, and suffered us to depart unmolested. 

Gen. Harrison having repaired the fort from the damage occa¬ 
sioned by the siege, left for the interior of the state, to organize new 
levies, and entrusted the command to Gen. Green Clay. The enemy 
returned to Malden, where the Canadian militia were disbanded. 
Shortly after commenced the second siege of Fort Meigs. 

On the 20th of July, the boats of the enemy were discovered ascending the Miami to 
Fort Meigs, and the following morning, a party of ten men were surprised by the Indians, 
and only three escaped death or capture. The force which the enemy had now before the 
post, was 5000 men under Proctor and Tecumseh, and the number of Indians was greater 
than any ever before assembled on any occasion during the war, while the defenders of the 
fort amounted to but a few hundred. 

The night of their arrival, Gen. Green Clay dispatched Capt. M’Cune, of the Ohio mili¬ 
tia, to Gen. Harrison, at Lower Sandusky, to notify him of the presence of the enemy. 
Capt. M’Cune was ordered to return, and inform Gen. Clay to be particularly cautious 
against surprise, and that every effort would be made to relieve the fort. 

It was Gen. Harrison’s intention, should the enemy lay regular siege to the fort, to select 
400 men, and by an unfrequented route reach there in the night, and at any hazard break 
through the lines of the enemy. 

Capt. M’Cune was sent out a second time with the intelligence to Harrison, that about 
800 Indians had been seen from the fort, passing up the Miami, designing, it was supposed, 
to attack Fort Winchester at Defiance. The general, however, believed that it was a 
ruse of the enemy, to cover their design upon Upper Sandusky, Lower Sandusky, or 
Cleveland, and accordingly kept out a reconoitering party to watch. 

On the afternoon of the 25th, Capt. M’Cune was ordered by Harrison to return to the 
fort, and inform Gen. Clay of his situation and intentions. He arrived near the fort about 
daybreak on the following morning, having lost his way in the night, accompanied by 
James Doolan, a French Canadian. They were just upon the point of leaving the forest 
and entering upon the cleared ground around the fort, when they were intercepted by a 
party of Indians. They immediately took to the high bank with their horses, and re¬ 
treated at full gallop up the river for several miles, pursued by the Indians, also mounted, 
until they came to a deep ravine, putting up from the river in a southerly direction, when 
they turned upon the river bottom and continued a short distance, until they found their 
further progress in that direction stopped by an impassable swamp. The Indians foresee¬ 
ing their dilemma, from their knowledge of the country, and expecting they would natu¬ 
rally follow up the ravine, galloped thither to head them off. M’Cune guessed their inten¬ 
tion, and he and his companion turned back upon their own track for the fort, gaining, by 
this manoeuvre, several hundred yards upon their pursuers. The Indians gave a yell of 
chagrin, and followed at their utmost speed. Just as they neared the fort, M’Cune dashed 
into a thicket across his course, on the opposite side of which other Indians had huddled, 
awaiting their prey. When this body of Indians had thought them all but in their posses¬ 
sion, again was the presence of mind of M’Cune signally displayed. He wheeled his horse, 
followed by Doolan, made his way out of the thicket by the passage he had entered, and 
galloped around into the open space between them and the river, where the pursuers were 
checked by the fire from the block-house at the western angle of the fort. In a few minutes 
after their arrival, their horses dropped from fatigue. The Indians probably had orders to 
take them alive as they had not fired until just as they entered the fort; but in the chase, 
M’Cune had great difficulty in persuading Doolan to reserve his fire until the last extrem¬ 
ity, and they therefore brought in their pieces loaded. 


540 


WOOD COUNTY. 


The opportune arrival of M’Cune no doubt saved the fort, as the intelligence he brought 
was the means of preserving them from an ingeniously devised stratagem of Tecumseh, 
which was put into execution that day, and which we here relate. 

Towards evening, the British infantry were secreted in the ravine below the fort, and 
the cavalry in the woods above, while the Indians were stationed in the forest, on the San¬ 
dusky road, not far from the fort. About an hour before dark, they commenced a sham 
battle among themselves, to deceive the Americans into the belief that a battle was going 
on between them and a re-inforcement for the fort, in the hopes of enticing the garrison to 
the aid of their comrades. It was managed with so much skill, that the garrison instantly 
flew to arms, impressed by the Indian yells, intermingled with the roar of musketry, that 
a severe battle was being fought. The officers even of the highest grades were of that 
opinion, and some of them insisted on being suffered to march out to the rescue. Gen. 
Clay, although unable to account for the firing, could not believe that the general had so 
soon altered his intention, as expressed to Capt. M’Cune, not to send or come with any troops 
to Fort Meigs, until there should appear further necessity for it. This intelligence in a great 
measure satisfied the officers, but not the men, who were extremely indignant at being pre¬ 
vented from going to share the dangers of their commander-in-chief and brother soldiers, 
and perhaps had it not been for the interposition of a shower of rain, which soon put an end 
to the battle, the general might have been persuaded to march out, when a terrible massacre 
of the troops would have ensued. 

The enemy remained around the fort but one day after this, and on the 28th, embarked 
with their stores and proceeded down the lake, and a few days after met with a severe re¬ 
pulse, in their attempt to storm Fort Stephenson. 

We are informed by a volunteer aid of Gen. Clay, who was in the fort at the second 
siege, that preparations were made to fire the magazine, in case the enemy succeeded in 
an attempt to storm the fort, and thus involve all, friend and foe, in one common fate. 
This terrible alternative was deemed better, than to perish under the tomahawks and scalp¬ 
ing knives of the savages. 

The soldiers of the northwestern army, while at Fort Meigs, and 
elsewhere on duty, frequently beguiled their time by singing patri¬ 
otic songs. A verse from one of them, sufficiently indicates their 
general character. 

Freemen, no longer bear such slaughter. 

Avenge your country’s cruel woe. 

Arouse and save your wives and daughters. 

Arouse, and expel the faithless foe. 

Chorus —Scalps are bought at stated prices, 

Malden pays the price in gold. 

Perrysburg, the county seat, named from Com. Perry, is 123 miles 
nw. of Columbus, on the Maumee river, just below Fort Meigs. It 
was laid out in 1816, at the head of navigation on the river. It 
contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist and 1 Universalist church, 2 
newspaper printing offices, 8 mercantile stores, and had by the cen¬ 
sus of 1840, 1041 inhabitants. The building of steamers and sail 
vessels has been carried on here to a considerable extent. A canal 
for hydraulic purposes has been constructed here. It commences 
in the rapids of the Maumee, 5 miles above, and has 18 feet fall, 
affording power sufficient to carry 40 runs of stone. 

A correspondent, residing in Perrysburg, has communicated to us 
a sketch of the speculations which attracted so much attention to 
the Maumee valley, some years since. 

The notable era of speculation, embracing the years 1834, 5, 6, and part of’37, first at¬ 
tracted public attention to the Maumee valley, as a commercial mart. From the mouth of 
the river to the foot of the rapids, the country swarmed with adventurers. Those that did 
not regard any of the settlements (for neither of the beautiful villages of Toledo, Maumee 
or Perrysburg, were more than settlements at that time) as the points designated by nature 
and legislation for the great emporium, purchased tracts of land lying between and below 


WYANDOT COUNTY. 


541 


these towns, and laid out cities. It would amuse one to take the recorded maps of some 
of these embryo cities, with the designated squares, parks and public buildings, and walk 
over the desolate sites of the cities themselves. Manhattan, at the mouth of the river ; 
O egon, 5 miles above ; Austerlitz, 6 miles, and Marengo, 9 miles, were joint contenders 
with the villages that have grown up, for the great prize. They all had their particular ad¬ 
vantages. Manhattan based her claim upon the location at the exact debouchure of the 
river. Oregon, in addition to all the advantages claimed by the other towns, added the fa¬ 
cilities of the location for engaging in the pork business, and her leading proprietor, in a 
placard posted up publicly in 1836, professed his belief, that these particular advantages 
were greater even, than those enjoyed by the city of Cincinnati. Marengo based her 
claims upon the fact, that her location was at the foot of the rock bar, and therefore at the 
virtual head of navigation. The result of all this was, that hundreds of young men, from 
the east and south, flocked to this valley during the years above named, with the hope of 
speedily amassing a fortune ; and of this number it is not too much to say, that full three- 
quarters. having no means at the commencement and depending upon some bold stroke for 
success, left the valley before the close of the year 1837, hopelessly involved. All these 
towns, some eleven, if I recollect rightly, in number, still form a part of the primeval for¬ 
ests of the Maumee, most of them, after ruining their proprietors, have been vacated, and 
the sounding names by which they were known, are a by-word, a reproach, or the butt-end 
of the coarse jokes of the more recent and fortunate adventurers in the valley. 



Perrysburg,from Maumee City , 

Gilead, at the head of the Maumee rapids, 18 miles above Perrys- 
burg, has about 150 inhabitants. There is much water power at 
that point. Otsego, Bowling Green and Portageville, are also small 
places in the county. The last, 18 miles south of the county seat, 
marks the site of one of Hull’s encampments, when on his march to 
Detroit. 


WYANDOT. 

Wyandot was formed from Crawford, Marion, Hardin and Han¬ 
cock, February 3d, 1845. The surface is level and the soil fertile. 
About one-third of it is prairie land, being covered by the Sandusky 
plains. These plains are chiefly bounded by the Sandusky, the Lit- 





























542 


WYANDOT COUNTY. 


tie Scioto and the Tyemochte , which last signifies in the Wyandot 
language, “ around the plains.” This tract in its natural state is cov¬ 
ered with a rank wild grass several feet in height, and in some parts 
are interspersed beautiful groves of timber. The following is a list 
of the townships in Wyandot: 

Antrim, Marseilles, Ridge, 

Cra ne, Mifflin, Salem, 

Crawford, Pitt, Sycamore, 

Eden, Richland, Tyemochte, 

Jackson, 

Wyandot having been so recently formed, its population is un¬ 
known ; it is, however, thinly settled, but is rapidly populating. 

This county was, from an early day, a favorite residence of the 
Wyandot Indians ; it is noted for being the scene of Crawford’s de¬ 
feat in June 1782, and his subsequent death by the most cruel tortures. 



Crawford's Battle Ground. 

The view representing Crawford’s Battle Ground was taken on 
the road to Tiffin 3 miles north of Upper Sandusky, and 1 west of 
the Sandusky river. The action, it is said, began some distance 
no , r . th , °‘ cabin shown, in the high grass of the prairie in 
which the Indians were concealed. The parties afterwards were 
engaged in the grove or island of timber represented in the view 
called at this day “ Battle Island ,” in which the principal action was’ 
fought. Many of the trees now bear the marks of the bullets or 
rather the scars on their trunks made by the hatchets of the Indians 











WYANDOT COUNTY, 


543 


in getting them out after the action. The large oak on the right of 
the view has these relics of that unfortunate engagement. A part 
of the whites slain were buried in a small swamp about 30 
rods south of the spot from whence the drawing was taken. It is 
not shown in the view as the scene is represented to the eye as 
if looking in a northern direction. 

The annexed history of Crawford’s campaign we take from Dod¬ 
dridge’s Notes : 

Crawford’s campaign, in one point of view at least, is to be considered as a second Mo¬ 
ravian campaign, as one of its objects was that of finishing the work of murder and plun¬ 
der with the Christian Indians at their new establishment on the Sandusky. The next 
object was that of destroying the Wyandot towns on the same river. It was the resolu¬ 
tion of all those concerned in this expedition not to spare the life of any Indians that 
might fall into their hands, whether friends or foes. It will be seen in the sequel that the 
result of this campaign was widely different from that of the Moravian campaign the pre¬ 
ceding March. 

It should seem that the long continuance of the Indian war had debased a considerable 
portion of our population to the savage state of our nature. Having lost so many relatives 
by the Indians and witnessed their horrid murders and other depredations on so extensive 
a scale, they became subjects of that indiscriminating thirst for revenge which is such a 
prominent feature in the savage character, and having had a taste of blood and plunder 
without risk or loss on their part, they resolved to go on and kill every Indian they could 
find, whether friend or foe. 

Preparations for this campaign commenced soon after the return of the Moravian cam¬ 
paign in the month of March, and as it was intended to make what was called at that 
time “ a dash,” that is an enterprize conducted with secresy and dispatch, the men were all 
mounted on the best horses they could procure. They furnished themselves with all their 
outfits except some ammunition, which was furnished by the Lieutenant Colonel of Wash¬ 
ington county, [Pennsylvania.] 

On the 25th of May, 1782, 480 men mustered at the old Mingo towns, on the western 
side of the Ohio river. They were all volunteers from the immediate neighborhood of the 
Ohio, with the exception of one company from Ten Mile in Washington county. Here an 
election was held for the office of commander-in-chief for the expedition. The candidates 
were Col. Williamson and Col. Crawford ; the latter was the successful candidate. When 
notified of his appointment it is said that he accepted it with apparent reluctance. 

The army marched along “ Williamson’s trail” as it was then called, until they arrived 
at the upper Moravian town, in the fields belonging to which there was still plenty of corn 
on the stalks, with which their horses were plentifully fed during the night of their encamp¬ 
ment there. 

Shortly after the army halted at this place, two Indians were discovered by three men, 
who had walked some distance out of the camp. Three shots were fired at one of them, 
but without hurting him. As soon as the news of the discovery of Indians had reached 
the camp, more than one half of the men rushed out, without command, and in the most 
tumultuous manner, to see what happened. From that time. Col. Crawford felt a presen¬ 
timent of the defeat which followed. 

The truth is, that notwithstanding the secrecy and dispatch of the enterprize, tjie Indians 
were beforehand with our people. They saw the rendezvous on the Mingo bottom, knew 
their number and destination. They visited every encampment immediately on their leav¬ 
ing it, and saw from the writing on the trees and scraps of paper that “ no quarter was to 
be given to any Indian, whether man, woman or child.” 

Nothing material happened during their march until the sixth of June, when their guides 
conducted them to the site of the Moravian villages, on one of the upper branches of the 
Sandusky river; but here, instead of meeting with Indians and plunder, they met with noth¬ 
ing but vestiges of desolation. The place was covered with high grass, and the remains 
of a few huts alone, announced that the place had been the residence of the people whom 
they intended to destroy, but who had moved off to Scioto some time before. 

In this dilemma what was to be done ? The officers held a council, in which it was de¬ 
termined to march one day longer in the direction of Upper Sandusky, and if they should 
not reach the town in the course of the day, to make a retreat with all speed. 

The march was commenced the next morning through the plains of Sandusky, and con¬ 
tinued until about two o’clock, when the advance guard was attacked and driven in by the 


544 


WYANDOT COUNTY. 


Indians, who were discovered in large numbers, in the high grass, with which the place 
was covered. The Indian army was at that moment about entering a piece of woods, 
almost entirely surrounded by plains ; but in this they were disappointed by a rapid move¬ 
ment of our men. The battle then commenced by a heavy fire from both sides. From a 
partial possession of the woods which they had gained at the onset of the battle, the In¬ 
dians were soon dislodged. They then attempted to gain a small skirt of wood on our 
right flank, but were prevented from doing so by the vigilance and bravery of Maj. Leet, 
who commanded the right wing of the army at that time. The firing was incessant and 
heavy until dark, when it ceased. Both armies lay on their arms during the night. Both 
adopted the policy of kindling large fires along the line of battle, and then retiring some 
distance in the rear of them, to prevent being surprised by a night attack. During the 
conflict of the afternoon, three of our men were killed and several wounded. 

In the morning our army occupied the battle ground of the preceding day. The In¬ 
dians made no attack during the day, until late in the evening, but were seen in large bo¬ 
dies traversing the plains in various directions. Some of them appeared to be employed 
in carrying off their dead and wounded. 

In the morning of this day a council of the officers was held, in which a retreat was 
resolved on, as the only means of saving their army. The Indians appeared to increase 
in number every hour. During the sitting of this council, Col. Williamson proposed taking 
one hundred and fifty volunteers, and marching directly to Upper Sandusky. This propo¬ 
sition the commander-in-chief prudently rejected, saying, “ I have no doubt but that you 
would reach the town, but you would find nothing there but empty wigwams, and having 
taken off so many of our best men, you would leave the rest to be destroyed by the host 
of Indians with which we are now surrounded, and on your return they would attack and 
destroy you. They care nothing about defending their towns ; they are worth nothing. 
Their squaws, children and property, have been removed from them long since. Our lives 
and baggage are what they want, and if they can get us divided they will soon have them. 
We must stay together and do the best we can.” 

During this day preparations were made for a retreat by burying the dead, burning fires 
over their graves to prevent discovery, and preparing means for carrying off the wounded. 
The retreat was to commence in the course of the night. The Indians, however, became 
apprized of the intended retreat, and about sundown attacked the army with great force 
and fury, in every direction, excepting that of Sandusky. 

When the line of march was formed by the commander-in-chief, and the retreat com¬ 
menced, our guides prudently took the direction of Sandusky, which afforded the only 
opening in the Indian lines and the only chance of concealment. After marching about a 
mile in this direction, the army wheeled about to the left, and by a circuitous route gained 
the trail by which they came, before day. They continued their march the whole of the 
next day, with a trifling annoyance from the Indians, who fired a few distant shots at the 
rear guard, which slightly wounded two or three men. At night they built fires, took 
their suppers, secured the horses and resigned themselves to repose, without placing a sin¬ 
gle sentinel or vidette for safety. In this careless situation, they might have been surprised 
and cut off by the Indians, who, however, gave them no disturbance during the night, nor 
afterwards during the whole of their retreat. The number of those.composing the main 
body in the retreat was supposed to be about three hundred. 

Most unfortunately, when a retreat was resolved on, a difference of opinion prevailed 
concerning the best mode of effecting it. The greater number thought best to keep in a 
body and retreat as fast as possible, while a considerable number thought it safest to break 
off in small parties and make their way home in different directions, avoiding the route by 
which they came. Accordingly many attempted to do so, calculating that the whole body 
of the Indians would follow the main army ; in this they were entirely mistaken. The 
Indians paid but little attention to the main body of the army, but pursued the small par¬ 
ties with such activity that but very few of those who composed them made their escape. 

The only successful party w T ho were detached from the main army was that of about 
forty men under the command of a Captain Williamson, who, pretty late in the night of 
the retreat, broke through the Indian lines under a severe fire, and with some loss, and over¬ 
took the main army on the morning of the second day of the retreat. 

For several days after the retreat of our army, the Indians were spread over the whole 
country, from Sandusky to the Muskingum, in pursuit of the straggling parties, most of 
whom were killed on the spot. They even pursued them almost to the banks of the Ohio. 
A man of the name of Mills was killed, two miles to the eastward of the site of St. 
Clairsville, in the direction of Wheeling from that place. The number killed in this way 
must have been very great, the precise amount, however, was never fairly ascertained. 


WYANDOT COUNTY. 


545 


At the commencement of the retreat Col. Crawford placed himself at the head of the 
army and continued there until they had gone about a quarter of a mile, when missing his 
son, John Crawford, his son-in-law, Major Harrison, and his nephews, Major Rose and 
William Crawford, he halted and called for them as the line passed, but without finding 
them. After the army had passed him, he was unable to overtake it, owing to the weari¬ 
ness of his horse. Falling in company with Doctor Knight and two others, they travelled 
all the night, first north, and then to the east, to avoid the pursuit of the Indians. They 
directed their courses during the night by the north star. 

On the next day, they fell in with Captain John Biggs and Lieutenant Ashley, the latter 
of whom was severely wounded. There were two others in company with Biggs and 
Ashley. They encamped together the succeeding night. On the next day, while on their 
march, they were attacked by a party of Indians, who made Col. Crawford and Doctor 
Knight prisoners. The other four made their escape, but Captain Biggs and Lieutenant 
Ashley were killed the next day. 

Colonel Crawford and Doctor Knight were immediately taken to an Indian encampment 
at a short distance from the place where they were captured. Here they found nine fellow 
prisoners and seventeen Indians. On the next day they were marched to the old Wyan¬ 
dot town, and on the next morning were paraded, to set off, as they were told, to go to the 
new town. But alas ! a very different destination awaited these captives! Nine of the 
prisoners were marched off some distance before the colonel and the doctor, who were 
conducted by Pipe and Wingenund, two Delaware chiefs. Four of the prisoners were 
tomahawked and scalped on the way, at different places. 

Preparations had been made for the execution of Colonel Crawford, by setting a post 
about fifteen feet high in the ground, and making a large fire of hickory poles about six 
yards from it. About half a mile from the place of execution the remaining five of the 
nine prisoners were tomahawked and scalped by a number of squaws and boys. Colonel 
Crawford’s son and son-in-law were executed at the Shawnese town. * * * 

Dr. Knight was doomed to be burned at a town about forty miles distant from Sandusky, 
and committed to the care of a young Indian to be taken there. The first day they trav¬ 
elled about twenty-five miles, and encamped for the night. In the morning the gnats be¬ 
ing very troublesome, the doctor requested the Indian to untie him that he might help him 
to make a fire to keep them off. With this request the Indian complied. While the In¬ 
dian was on his knees and elbows, blowing the fire, the doctor caught up a piece of a tent 
pole which had been burned in two, about eighteen inches long, with which he struck the 
Indian on his head with all his might, so as to knock him forward into the fire. The 
stick, however, broke, so that the Indian, although severely hurt, was not killed, but imme¬ 
diately sprang up ; on this the doctor caught up the Indian’s gun to shoot him, but drew 
back the cock with so much violence that he broke the main spring. The Indian ran off 
with an hideous yelling. Doctor Knight then made the best of his way home, which he 
reached in twenty-one days, almost famished to death. The gun being of no use, after 
carrying it a day or two, he left it behind. On his journey he subsisted on roots, a few 
young birds and berries. ******* 

Thus ended this disastrous campaign. It was the last one which took place in this sec¬ 
tion of the country during the revolutionary contest of the Americans with the mother 
country. It was undertaken with the very worst of views, those of plunder and murder; 
it was conducted without sufficient means to encounter, with any prospect of success, the 
large force of Indians opposed to ours in the plains of Sandusky. It was conducted with¬ 
out that subordination and discipline so requisite to insure success in any hazardous enter- 
prize, and it ended in a total discomfiture. Never did an enterprize more completely fail 
of attaining its object. Never, on any occasion, had the ferocious savages more ample re¬ 
venge for the murder of their pacific friends, than that which they obtained on this occasion. 

Should it be asked what considerations led so great a number of people into this despe¬ 
rate enterprize ? Why with so small a force and such slender means they pushed on so far 
as the plains of Sandusky 1 

The answer is, that many believed that the Moravian Indians, taking no part in the war, 
and having given offence to the warriors on several occasions, their belligerent friends would 
not take up arms in their behalf. In this conjecture they were sadly mistaken. They did 
defend them with all the force at their command, and no wonder, for notwithstanding their 
Christian and pacific principles, the warriors still regarded the Moravians as their relations, 
whom it was their duty to defend. 

We have omitted to copy from the preceding the account of the 
burning of Col. Crawford, for the purpose of giving the details more 

69 


646 


WYANDOT COUNTY. 


fully. “ The spot where Crawford suffered,” says Col. John Johns¬ 
ton, “was a few miles west of Upper Sandusky, on the old trace 
leading to the Big Spring, Wyandot town. It was on the right hand 
of the trace going west, on a low bottom on the east bank of the 
Tyemochte creek. The Delawares burnt Crawford in satisfaction 
for the massacre of their people at the Moravian towns on the 
Muskingum.” It was at a Delaware town which extended along 
the Tyemochte. The precise spot is now owned by the heirs of 
Daniel Hodge, and is a beautiful green with some fine oak trees in 
its vicinity. 

The following is from Heckewelder, and describes an interview 
which Crawford had with the Indian chief, Wingenund, just previous 
to his death. Some doubts have been expressed of its truth as the 
historian Heckewelder has often been accused of being fond of ro- 
mancing , but Col. Johnston, (good authority here,) expresses the 
opinion that “ it is doubtless in the main correct.” 

Wingenund, an Indian chief, had an interview with Col. Crawford just before his execu¬ 
tion. He had been known to Crawford some time before, and had been on terms of friend¬ 
ship with him, and kindly entertained by him at his own house, and therefore felt much at¬ 
tached to the colonel. Wingenund had retired to his cabin, that he might not see the sen¬ 
tence executed ; but Crawford sent for him, with the faint hope that he would intercede for 
and save him. Wingenund accordingly soon appeared in presence of Crawford, who was 
naked and bound to a stake. Wingenund commenced the conversation with much em¬ 
barrassment and agitation, as follows: 

Wingenund —“ Are you not Col. Crawford V* 

Crawford —“ I am.” 

Wingenund, somewhat agitated, ejaculates, “ So!—yes!—indeed!” 

Crawford —“ Do you not recollect the friendship, that always existed between us, and that 
we were always glad to see each other?” 

Wingenund —“ Yes ! I remember all this, and that we have often drank together, and 
that you have been kind to me.” 

Crawford —“ Then I hope the same friendship still continues.” 

Wingenund —“ It would, of course, were you where you ought to be, and not here.” 

Crawford —“ And why not here ? I hope you would not desert a friend in time of need. 
Now is the time for you to exert yourself in my behalf, as I should do for you were you in 
my place.” 

Wingenund —•“ Colonel Crawford ! you have placed yourself in a situation which puts 
it out of my power, and that of others of your friends, to do any thing for you.” 

Crawford —“ How so, Captain Wingenund?” 

Wingenund —“ By joining yourself to that execrable man, Williamson, and his party_ 

the man, who, but the other day, murdered such a number of Moravian Indians, knowing 
them to be friends; knowing that he ran no risk in murdering a people who would not 
fight, and whose only business was praying.” 

Crawford —“ But I assure you, Wingenund, that had I been with him at the time, this 
would not have happened. Not I alone, but all your friends, and all good men, whoever 
they are, reprobate acts of this kind.” 

Wingenund —“ That may be ; yet these friends, these good men, did not prevent him 
from going out again to kill the remainder of these inoffensive, yet foolish Moravian In¬ 
dians. I say foolish, because they believed the whites in preference to us. We had often 
told them they would be one day so treated by those people, who called themselves their 
friends! We told them there was no faith to be placed in what the white man said ; that 
their fair promises were only intended to allure us, that they might the more easily kill us, 
as they had done many Indians before these Moravians.” 

Crawford —“ I am sorry to hear you speak thus ; as to Williamson’s going out again, 
when it was known he was determined on it, I went out with him to prevent his committing 
fresh murders.” 

Wingenund —“ This the Indians would not believe, were even I to tell them so.” 

Crawford —-** Why would they not believe ?” 


WYANDOT COUNTY. 


547 


Wingenund —“Because it would have been out of your power to have prevented his 
doing what he pleased.” 

Crawford —■“ Out of my power ! Have any Moravian Indiana been killed or hurt since 
we came out?” 

Wingenund —•“ None ; but you first went to their town, and finding it deserted, you 
turned on the path towards us. If you had been in search of warriors only, you would not 
have gone thither. Our spies watched you closely. They saw you while you were em¬ 
bodying yourselves on the other side of the Ohio. They saw you cross the river—they saw 
where you encamped for the night—they saw you turn off from the path to the deserted 
Moravian town—they knew you were going out of your way—your steps were constantly 
watched, and you were suffered quietly to proceed until you reached the spot where you 
were attacked.” 

Crawford felt that, with this sentence, ended his last ray of hope, and now asked, with 
emotion, “ what do they intend to do with me ?” 

Wingenund —“ I tell you with grief. As Williamson, with his whole cowardly host, 
ran off in the night at the whistling of our warriors’ balls, being satisfied that now he had 
no Moravians to deal with, but men who could fight, and with such he did not wi?h to have 
anything to do—I say, as they have escaped and taken you, they will take revenge on you 
in his stead.” 

Crawford —And is there no possibility of preventing this? Can you devise no way of 
getting me off? You shall, my friend, be well rewarded if you are instrumental in saving 
my life.” 

Wingenund —“ Had Williamson been taken with you, I and some friends, by making 
use of what you have told me, might perhaps have succeeded in saving you ; bat as the 
matter now stands, no man would dare to interfere in your behalf. The king of England 
himself, were he to come on to this spot, with all his wealth and treasure, could not effect 
this purpose. The blood of the innocent Moravians, more than half of them women and 
children, cruelly and wantonly murdered, calls loudly for revenge. The relatives of the 
slain, who are among us, cry out and stand ready for revenge. The nation to which they 
belonged will have revenge. The Shawanese, our grandchildren, have asked for your 
fellow-prisoner ; on him they will take revenge. All the nations connected with us cry out, 
revenge! revenge ! The Moravians whom you went to destroy, having fled, instead of 
avenging their brethren, the offence is become national, and the nation itself is bound to 
take revenge!” 

Crawford —“ My fate is then fixed, and I must prepare to meet death in its worst form.” 

Wingenund —“ I am sorry for it, but cannot do anything for you. Had you attended to 
the Indian principle, that as good and evil cannot dwell together in the same heart, so a 
good man ought not to go into evil company, you would not be in this lamentable situation. 
You see now, when it is too late, after Williamson has deserted you, what a bad man he 
must be. Nothing now remains for you but to meet your fate like a brave man. Farewell, 
Col. Crawford!—they are coming. I will retire to a solitary spot.” 

The savages then fell upon Crawford. Wingenund, it is said, retired, shedding tears, and 
ever after, when the circumstance was alluded to, was sensibly affected. 

The account of the burning of Colonel Crawford is related in the 
words of Dr. Knight, his companion, and an eye-witness of this 
tragic scene. 

When we went to the fire, the colonel was stripped paked, ordered to sit down by the 
fire, and then they beat him with sticks and their fists. Presently after I was treated in 
the same manner. They then tied a rope to the foot of a post about fifteen feet high, bound 
the colonel's hands behind his back and fastened the rope to the ligature between his wrists. 
The rope was long enough for him to sit down or walk round the post once or twice, and 
return the same way. The colonel then called to Girty, and asked if they intended to burn 
him ? Girty answered, yes. The colonel said he would take it all patiently. Upon this. 
Captain Pipe, a Delaware chief, made a speech to the Indians, viz., about thirty or forty 
men, sixty or seventy squaws and boys. 

When the speech was finished, they all yelled a hideous and hearty assent to what had 
been said. The Indian men then took up their guns and shot powder into the colonel’s 
body, from his feet as far up as his neck. I think that not less than seventy loads were 
discharged upon his naked body. They then crowded about him, and to the best of my 
observation, cut off his ears; when the throng had dispersed a little, I saw the blood run¬ 
ning from both sides of his head in consequence thereof. 

The fire was about six or seven yards from the post to which the colonel was tied ; it 


548 


WYANDOT COUNTY. 


was made of small hickory poles, burnt quite through in the middle, each end of the poles 
remaining about six feet in length. Three or four Indians by turns would take up, indi¬ 
vidually, one of these burning pieces of wood, and apply it to his naked body, already burnt 
black with the powder. These tormentors presented themselves on every side ol him with 
the burning faggots and poles. Some of the squaws took broad boards, upon which they 
would carry a quantity of burning coals and hot embers, and throw on him, so that in a 
short time he had nothing but coals of fire and hot ashes to walk upon. 

In the midst of these extreme tortures he called to Simon Girty, and begged of him to 
shoot him ; but Girty making no answer, he called to him again. Girty then, by way of 
derision, told the colonel he had no gun, at the same time turning about to an ludian who 
was behind him, laughed heartily, and by all his gestures seemed delighted at the horrid 
scene. 

Girty then came up to me and bade me prepare for death. He said, however, I was not 
to die at that place, but to be burnt at the Shawanese towns. He swore by G—d I need 
not expect to escape death, but should suffer it in all its extremities. 

Colonel Craw r ford, at this period of his sufferings, besought the Almighty to have mercy 
on his soul, spoke very low, and bore his torments with the most manly fortitude. He con¬ 
tinued in all the extremities of pain for an hour and three quarters or two hours longer, as 
near as I can judge, when at last, being almost exhausted, he lay down on his belly ; they 
then scalped him, and repeatedly threw the scalp in my face, telling me, “ that was my great 
captain.” An old squaw (whose appearance every way answ’ered the ideas people entertain 
of the devil) got a board, took a parcel of coals and ashes and laid them on his back and 
head, after he had been scalped ; he then raised himself upon his feet and began to walk 
round the post; ^hey next put a burning stick to him, as usual, but he seemed more insen¬ 
sible of pain than before. 

The Indian fellow who had me in charge, now took me away to Captain Pipe’s house, 
about three-quarters of a mile from the place of the colonel’s execution. I was bound all 
night, and thus prevented from seeing the last of the horrid spectacle. Next morning, 
being June 12th, the Indian untied me, painted me black, and sve set off for the Shawanese 
town, which he told me was somewhat less than forty miles distant from that place. We 
soon came to the spot where the colonel had been burnt, as it was partly in our way ; I saw 
his bones lying among the remains of the fire, almost burnt to ashes; I suppose, after he 
was dead, they laid his body on the fire. The Indian told me that was my big captain, 
and gave the scalp halloo. 

The following extract from an article in the American Pioneer, 
by Joseph M’Cutchen, Esq., contains some items respecting the death 
of Crawford, and Girty’s interference in his behalf, never before 
published. He derived them from the Wyandot Indians, who re¬ 
sided, a few years since, in this county, some of whom were quite 
intelligent. 

As I have it, the story respecting the battle is, that if Crawford had rushed on when he 
first came among the Indians, they would have given way and made but little or no fight; 
but they had a talk with him three days previous to the fight, and asked him to give them 
three days to collect in their chiefs and head men of the different tribes, and they would then 
make a treaty of peace with him. The three days were therefore given ; and during that 
time all their forces gathered together that could be raised as fighting men, and the next 
morning Crawford was attacked, some two or three miles north of the island where the 
main battle was fought. The Indians then gave back in a south direction, until they got 
into an island of timber which suited their purpose, which was in a large plain, now well 
known as Sandusky plains. There the battle continued until night. The Indians then 
ceased firing; and, it is said, immediately afterwards a man came near to the army with a 
white flag. Colonel Crawford sent an officer to him. The man said he wanted to talk 
with Colonel Crawford, and that he did not want Crawford to come nearer to him than 
twenty steps, as he (Girty) wanted to converse with Crawford, and might be of vast benefit 
to him. Crawford accordingly went out as requested. Girty then said, “Col. Crawford, 
do you know me V’ The answer was, “ I seem to have some recollection of your voice, 
but your Indian dress deprives me of knowing you as an acquaintance.” The answer was 
then, “ My name is Simon Girty f* and after some more conversation between them, they 
knew each other well. Girty said, “ Crawford, my object in calling you here is to say to 
you, that the Indians have ceased firing until to-morrow morning, when they intend to 
commence the fight; and as they are three times as strong as you are, they will be able to 



WYANDOT COUNTY. 


549 


cut you all off. To-night the Indiana will surround your army, and when that arrangement 
is fully made, you will hear some guns fire all around the ring. But there is a large swamp 
or very wet piece of ground on the east side of you, where there will be a vacancy ; that 
gap you can learn by the firing, and in the night you had better march your men through 
and make your escape in an east direction.” 

Crawford accordingly in the night drew up his men and told them his intention. The 
men generally assenting, he then commenced his march east; but the men soon got into 
confu-ion and lost their course. Consequently, the next day they were almost to a man 
cut off and, as history tells us, Crawford taken prisoner. He was taken by a Delaware ; 
consequently the Delawares claimed the right, agreeably to their rules, of disposing of the 
prisoner. There was a council held, and the decision was to burn him. He was taken to 
the main Delaware town, on a considerable creek, called Tymochtee, about eight miles 
from the mouth. Girty then supposed he could make a speculation by saving Crawford’s 
life. He made a proposition to Capt. Pipe, the head chief of the Delawares, offering three 
hundred and fifty dollars for Crawford. The chief received it as a great insult, and promptly 
said to Girty, “ Sir, do think I am a squaw ?” If you say one word more on the subject, I 
will make a stake for you, and burn you along with the white chief.” Girty, knowing the 
Indian chhracter, retired and said no more on the subject. But, in the meantime, Girty had 
sent runners to the Mohican creek and to Lower Sandusky, where there were some white 
traders, to come immediately and purchase Crawford—knowing that he could make a great 
speculation in case he could save Crawford’s life. The traders came on, but too late. 
When they arrived, Crawford was tied to a stake, blacked, his ears cut off and part burnt— 
too much so to live had he been let loose. He asked Girty to get a gun and shoot him; 
but Girty, knowing the rebuke he got the day before, dared not say one word. 

Notwithstanding the above, the cruelty of Girty to Crawford at 
the stake, is established by other sources than that of Dr. Knight. 
Col. Johnston informs us, that he has been told by Indians present 
on the occasion, that Girty was among the foremost in inflicting tor¬ 
tures upon their victim. This, however, does not materially conflict 
with the above, when we regard the motives of Girty in his be¬ 
half as having been mercenary. 

By the treaty concluded at the foot of the Maumee rapids, Sept. 
29th, 1817, Hon. Lewis Cass and Hon. Duncan M’Arthur, commis¬ 
sioners on the part of the United States, there was granted to the 
Wyandot tribe a reservation of twelve miles square in this county, 
the centre of which was Fort Ferree, at Upper Sandusky, and also a 
tract of one mile square on the Cranberry S wamp, on Broken Sword 
creek. At the same time was granted to the Delawares a tract of 
three miles square, adjoining the other, on the south. Their princi¬ 
pal chief was Capt. Pipe, son of the chief so officious in the burning 
of Crawford. 

The Delawares ceded their reservation to the United States in 
1829. The Wyandots ceded theirs by a treaty made at Upper 
Sandusky, March, 17th, 1842, they being the only Indians remaining 
in the state. The commissioner on the part of the United States 
was Col. John Johnston, who had then the honor of making the last 
Indian treaty in Ohio—a state, every foot of whose soil has been fairly 
purchased by treaties from its original possessors. The Wyandots 
left for the far west in July, 1843, and numbered at that time about 
700 souls. 

The Wyandots were the bravest of the Indian tribes, and had 
among their chiefs some men of high moral character. 

With all other tribes but the Wyandots, flight in battle, when meeting with unexpected 
resistance or obstacle, brought with it no disgrace.With them, it was otherwise. Their 



550 


WYANDOT COUNTY, 


youth were taught to consider anything that had the appearance of an acknowledgment 
of the superiority of the enemy as disgraceful. In the battle of the Miami rapids, of thirteen 
chiefs of that tribe who were present, one only survived, and he badly wounded. Some 
time before this action, Gen. Wayne sent for Capt. Wells, (see p. 323,) and requested him 
to go to Sandusky and take a prisoner, for the purpose of obtaining information. Wells— 
who had been bred with the Indians, and was perfectly acquainted with their character— 
answered that he could take a prisoner, but not from Sandusky, because Wyandots would 
not be taken alive.* 

We annex a brief sketch of the Wyandot, or Huron tribe, as they 
were anciently called, in a letter from the Rev. Joseph Badger (see 
page 482) to John Frazier, Esq., of Cincinnati, dated Plain, Wood 
county, Aug. 25th, 1845. 

Having been a resident missionary with the Wyandot Indians before the late war, and 
obtained the confidence of their chiefs in a familiar conversation with them ; and having a 
good interpreter, I requested them to give me a history of their ancestors as far back as they 
could. They began by giving a particular account of the country formerly owned by their 
ancestors. It was the north side of the river St. Lawrence, down to Coon lake, and from 
thence up the Utiwas. Their name for it was Cu,none,tot,tia. This name I heard applied 
to them, but knew not what it meant. The Senecas owned the opposite side of the river 
and the island on which Montreal now stands. They were both large tribes, consisting of 
many thousands. They were blood relations, and I found at this time they claimed each 
other as cousins. 

A war originated between the two tribes in this way. A man of the Wyandots wanted 
a certain woman for his wife ; but she objected, and said he was no warrior: he had never 
taken any scalps. To accomplish his object, he raised a small war party, and in their scout, 
fell upon a parly of Seneca hunters, killed and scalped a number of them. This procedure 
began a war between the nations, that lasted more than a century, which they supposed 
was fully a hundred winters before the French came to Quebec. They owned they were 
the first instigators in the war, and were generally beaten in the contest. Both tribes were 
greatly wasted in the war. They often made peace ; but the first opportunity the Senecas 
could get an advantage against them, they would destroy all they could, men, women and 
children. The Wyandots, finding they were in danger of being exterminated, concluded to 
leave their country, and go far to the west. With their canoes, the whole nation made 
their escape to the upper lakes, and settled in the vicinity of Green Bay, in several villages; 
but, after a few years, the Senecas made up a war-party and followed them to their new 
settlements, fell on one of their villages, killed a number and returned. Through this long 
period, they had no instruments of war but bows, arrows, and the war club. 

Soon after this, the French came to Quebec, and began trading with Indians, and sup¬ 
plied them with fire-arms and utensils of various kinds. The Senecas having got supplied 
with guns, and learned the use of them, made out a second war-party against the Wyan¬ 
dots—came upon them in the night, fired into their huts and scared them exceedingly: 
they thought at first it was thunder and lightning. They did not succeed so well as they 
intended. After a few years, they made out a third party, and fell upon one of the Wyan¬ 
dot villages and took them nearly all; but it so happened at this time, that nearly all the 
young men had gone to war with the Fox tribe, living on the Mississippi. 

Those few that escaped the massacre by the Senecas, agreed to give up and go back with 
them and become one people, but requested of the Senecas to have two days to collect 
what they had and make ready their canoes, and join them on the morning of the third 
day at a certain point, where they had gone to wait for them and hold a great dance 
through the night. The Wyandots sent directly to the other two villages which the Sen¬ 
ecas had not disturbed, and got all their old men and women, and such as could fight, to 
consult on what measures to take. They came to the resolution to equip themselves in the 
best manner they could, and go down in perfect stillness so near the enemy as to hear 
them. They found them engaged in a dance, and feasting on two Wyandot men they had 
killed and- roasted, as they said, for their beef; and as they danced, they shouted their vic¬ 
tory and told how good their Wyandot beef was. They continued their dance until the 
latter part of the night, and being pretty tired, they all laid down and soon fell into a sound 
sleep. A little before day, the Wyandot party fell on them and cut them all off; not one 


* Discourse of General Wm. H. Harrison, in the Collections of the Historical Society of 
Ohio. 



WYANDOT COUNTY. 


551 


wag left to carry back the tidings. This ended the war for a great number of years. Soon 
after this, the Wyandots got guns from the French traders and began to grow formidable. 
The Indians, who owned the country where they had resided for a long time, proposed to 
them to go back to their own country. They agreed to return, and having proposed them¬ 
selves as a war-party, they returned—came down to where Detroit now stands, and agreed 
to settle in two villages, one at the place above mentioned, and the other where the British 
fort, Malden, now stands. 

But previously to making any settlement, they sent out in canoes the best war-party they 
could make, to go down the lake some distance to see if there was an enemy on that side 
of the water. They went down to Long Point, landed, and sent three men across to see if 
they could make any discovery. They found a party of Senecas bending their course around 
the Point, and returned with the intelligence to their party. The head chief ordered his 
men in each canoe to strike fire, and ofTer some of their tobacco to the Great Spirit, and 
prepare for action. The chief had his son, a small boy, with him: he covered the boy in 
the bottom of his canoe. He determined to fight his enemy on the water. They put out 
into the open lake : the Senecas came on. Both parties took the best advantage they could, 
and fought with a determination to conquer or sink in the lake. At length the Wyandots 
saw the last man fall in the Seneca party ; but they had lost a great proportion of their 
own men, and were so wounded and cut to pieces that they could take no advantage of the 
victory but only to gain the shore as soon as possible, and leave the enemy’s canoes to float 
or sink among the waves. Thus ended the long war between the two tribes from that day 
to this. 

Col. John Johnston relates, in his “ Recollections,” an interesting 
account of an Indian council, held at Upper Sandusky in 1818 , on 
the occasion of the death of Tarhe, or “ the Crane,” a celebrated 
chief of the Wyandots. 

Twenty-eight years ago, on the death of the great chief of the Wyandots, I was invited 
to attend a general council of all the tribes of Ohio, the Delawares of Indiana, and the 
Senecas of New York, at Upper Sandusky. I found, on arriving at the place, a very large 
attendance. Among the chiefs was the noted leader and orator, Red Jacket, from Buffalo. 
The first business done was the speaker of the nation delivering an oration on the character 
of the deceased chief. Then followed what, might be called a monody, or ceremony, of 
mourning and lamentation. Thus seats were arranged from end to end of a large council- 
house, about six feet apart. The head men and the aged took their seats facing each other, 
stooping down their heads almost touching. In that position they remained for several 
hours. Deep, heavy and long continued groans would commence at one end of the row of 
mourners, and so pass round until all had responded, and these repeated at intervals of a 
few minutes. The Indians were all washed, and had no paint or decorations of any kind 
upon their persons, their countenances and general deportment denoting the deepest mourn¬ 
ing. I had never witnessed any thing of the kind before, and was told this ceromony was 
not performed but on the decease of some great man. After the period of mourning and 
lamentation was over, the Indians proceeded to business. There were present the Wyan¬ 
dots, Shawanese, Delawares, Senecas, Ottawas and Mohawks. The business was entirely 
confined to their own affairs, and the main topic related to their lands and the claims of 
the respective tribes. It was evident, in the course of the discussion, that the presence of 
myself and people (there were some white men with me) was not acceptable to some of the 
parties, and allusions were made so direct to myself that I was constrained to notice them, 
by saying that I came there as the guest of the Wyandots by their special invitation ; that 
as the agent of the United States, I had a right to be there or any where else in the Indian 
country ; and that if any insult was offered to myself or my people, it would be resented and 
punished. Red Jacket was the principal speaker, and was intemperate and personal in 
his remarks. Accusations, pro and con, were made by the different parties, accusing each 
other of being foremost in selling lands to the United States. The Shawanese were par¬ 
ticularly marked out as more guilty than any other ; that they were the last coming into the 
Ohio country, and although they had no right but by permission of the other tribes, they 
were always the foremost in selling lands. This brought the Shawanese out, who retorted 
through their head chief, the Black Hoof, on the Senecas and Wyandots with pointed 
severity. The discussion was long continued, calling out some of the ablest speakers, and 
was distinguished for ability, cutting sarcasm and research—going far back into the history 
of the natives, their wars, alliances, negotiations, migrations, &c. I had attended many 
councils, treaties and gatherings of the Indians, but never in my life did I witness such an 


552 


WYANDOT COUNTY. 


outpouring of native oratory and eloquence, of severe rebuke, taunting national and personal 
reproaches. The council broke up late, in great confusion, and in the worst possible feel¬ 
ing. A circumstance occurred towards the close, which more than anything else exhibited 
the bad feeling prevailing. In handing round the wampum belt, the emblem of amity, 
peace and good will, when presented to one of the chiefs, he would not touch it wiih his 
fingers, but passed it on a stick to the person next him. A greater indignity, agreeable to 
Indian etiquette, could not be offered. The next day appeared to be one of unusual anxiety 
and despondency among the Indians. They could be seen in groups everywhere near the 
council-house in deep consultation. They had acted foolishly—were sorry ; but the diffi¬ 
culty was, who would first present the olive branch. The council convened late and was 
very full; silence prevailed for a long time ; at last the aged chief of the Shawanese, the 
Black Hoof, rose—a man of great influence, and a celebrated orator. He told the assem¬ 
bly they had acted like children, and not men, on yesterday ; that him and his people were 
sorry for the words that had been spoken, and which had done so much harm ; that he came 
into the council by the unanimous desire of his people present, to recall those foolish words, 
and did there take them back—handing strings of wampum, which passed round and was 
received by all with the greatest satisfaction. Several of the principal chiefs delivered 
speeches to the same effect, handing round wampum in turn, and in this manner the whole 
difficulty of the preceding day was settled, and to all appearance forgotten. The Indians 
are very courteous and civil to each other, and it is a rare thing to see their assemblies dis¬ 
turbed by unwise or ill-timed remarks. I never witnessed it except on the occa ion here 
alluded to ; and it is more than probable that the presence of myself and other white men 
contributed towards the unpleasant occurrence. I could not help but admire the genuine 
philosophy and good sense displayed by men whom we call savages in the transaction of 
their public business ; and how much we might profit in the halls of our legislatures 
by occasionally taking for our example the proceedings of the great Indian council at 
Sandusky. 

Upper Sandusky, the county seat, is on the west bank of the San¬ 
dusky, 63 miles north of Columbus. It was laid out in 1843, and now 
contains 1 Methodist church, 6 mercantile stores, 1 newspaper print¬ 
ing office and about 500 inhabitants. In the war of 1812, Gen. Har¬ 
rison built here Fort Feree, which stood about 50 rods ne. of the 
court house, on a bluff. It was a square stockade of about 2 acres 
in area, with block-houses at the corners, one of which is now stand¬ 
ing. One mile north of this, near the river, Gov. Meigs encamped, 
in August, 1813, with several thousand of the Ohio militia, then on 
their way to the relief of Fort Meigs. The place was called “ the 
Grand Encampment.” Receiving here the news of the raising of 
the siege of Fort Meigs, and the repulse of the British at Fort 
Stephenson, they prosecuted their march no farther, and were soon 
after dismissed. 

Crane Town, 4 miles ne. of the court house, was the Indian town 
of Upper Sandusky. After the death of Tarhe, the Crane, in 1818, 
the Indians transferred their council-house to the present Upper San¬ 
dusky, gave it this name, and called the other Crane Town. Their 
old council-house stood about lj miles n. of Crane Town. It was 
built principally of bark, and was about 100 feet long and 15 wide. 
Their last council-house, at the present Upper Sandusky, is yet 
standing near the river bank. It is a small frame structure, resem¬ 
bling an ordinary dwelling. 

The Methodists sustained a mission among the Wyandots for 
many years. Previous to the establishment of the Methodists, a 
portion of the tribe had been for a long while under the religious 
instruction of the Catholics. The first Protestant who preached 


WYANDOT COUNTY, 


553 


among them at Upper Sandusky was John Stewart, a mulatto, a 
member of the Methodist denomination, who came here of his own 
accord in 1816, and gained much influence over them. His efforts 
in their behalf paved the way for a regularly established mission a 
few years after, when the Rev. James B. Finley—at present chap¬ 
lain of the Ohio penitentiary—formed a church and established a 
school here. This was the first Indian mission formed by the 
Methodists in the Mississippi valley. 



Wyandot Mission Church, at Upper Sandusky. 


The mission church building was erected of blue limestone about 
the year 1824, from government funds, Rev. Mr. Finley having per¬ 
mission from Hon. John C. Calhoun, then secretary of war, to apply 
$1333 to this object. The church stands upon the outskirts of the 
town, in a small enclosure, surrounded by woods. Connected with 
the mission was a school-house, and a farm of one mile square. 

The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the 
grave-yard, attached to the mission church. 

Between-the-logs,* died December, 1826, aged 50 years. 

Rev. John Stewart, first missionary to the Wyandots; died December 17th, 1833, aged 
37 years. 

Sum-mun-de-wat, murdered December 4th, 1845, aged 46 years. Buried in Wood 
county, Ohio. 

The remains of Sum-mun-de-wat were subsequently re-interred 
here. He was, at the time of his death, on a hunting excursion with 
his family in Hancock county. In the evening, three white men 
with axes entered their camp, and were hospitably entertained by 
their host. After having finished their suppers, the Indian, agreeable 
to his custom, kneeled and prayed in his own language, and then laid 

* He was among the first converts under the labors of John Stewart, and afterward be¬ 
came the most celebrated preacher among the Wyandots. 

70 










554 


WYANDOT COUNTY. 


down with his wife to sleep. In the night, these miscreants who 
had been so kindly treated, rose on them in their sleep, and mur¬ 
dered Sum-mun-de-wat and his wife with their axes, in the most 
brutal manner. They then robbed the camp and made off, but were 
apprehended and allowed to break jail. In speaking of this case, 
Col. Johnston says, that in a period of 53 years, since he first came 
to the west, he never knew of but one instance in which a white man 
was tried, convicted and executed for the murder of an Indian. 
This exception was brought about by his own agency in the prose¬ 
cution, sustained by the promptness of John C. Calhoun, then sec¬ 
retary of war, who manifested an interest in this affair, not often 
shown on similar occasions in the officers of our government. 

Sum-mun-de-wat is frequently mentioned in the Rev. Mr. Finley’s 
interesting history of the Wyandot mission, published by the Metho¬ 
dist book concern at Cincinnati. The following anecdote which he 
relates of this excellent chief, shows the simple and expressive lan¬ 
guage in which the Christian Wyandots related their religious feel¬ 
ings. 

“ Sum-mun-de-wat amused me after he came home, by relating a circumstance that 
transpired one cold evening, just before sun-down. ‘ I met/ said he, ‘ on a small path, 
not far from my camp, a man who ask me if I could talk English/ I said,‘ Little/ He 
ask me, ‘ How far is it to a house V I answer, ‘ I dont know—may be 10 miles—may be 
8 miles/ ‘ Is there a path leading to it?’ ‘No—by and by dis go out, (pointing to the 
path they were on,) den all woods. You go home me—sleep—me go show you to-mor¬ 
row/ Then he come my camp—so take horse—tie—give him some corn and brush—then 
my wife give him supper. He ask where I come. I say, ‘ Sandusky.’ He say, ‘You 
know Finley V ‘ Yes/ I say, ‘ he is my brother—my father/ Then he say, ‘ He is my 
brother/ Then I feel something in my heart burn. Isay,‘You preacher?’ He say, 
‘ Yesand I shook hands and say, ‘ My brother!’ Then we try talk. Then I say, ‘ You 
sing and pray/ So he did. Then he say to me, ‘ Sing and pray/ So I did ; and I so 
much cry I cant pray. No go sleep—I cant—I wake—my heart full. All night I pray 
and praise God, for his send me preacher to sleep my camp. Next morning soon come, 
and he want to go. Then I go show him through the woods, until come to big road. 
Then he took me by hand and say, ‘ Farewell, brother; by and by we meet up in heaven/ 
Then me cry, and my brother cry. We part—I go hunt. All day I cry, and no see deer 
jump up and run away. Then I go and pray by some log. My heart so full of joy, that 
I cannot walk much. I say, ‘ I cannot hunt/ Sometimes I sing—then I stop and clap my 
hands, and look up to God, my heavenly Father. Then the love come so fast in my heart, 
I can hardly stand. So I went home, and said, ‘ This is my happiest day/ ” 

The history of the mission relates an anecdote of Rohn-yen-ness, 
another of the Christian Indians. It seems that after the conflict 
of Poe (see page 106) with the Indians, the Wyandots determined 
on revenge. 

Poe then lived on the west side of the Ohio river, at the mouth of Little Yellow creek. 
They chose Rohn-yen-ness as a proper person to murder him, and then make his escape. 
He went to Poe’s house, and was met with great friendship. Poe not having any suspicion 
of his design, the best in his house was furnished him. When the time to retire to sleep 
came, he made a pallet on the floor for his Indian guest to sleep. He and his wife went 
to bed in the same room. Rohn-yen-ness said they both soon fell asleep. There being 
no person about the house but some children, this afforded him a fair opportunity to have 
executed his purpose ; but the kindness they had both shown him worked in his mind. He 
asked himself how he could get up and kill even an enemy, that had taken him in, and 
treated him so well—so much like a brother? The more he thought about it, the worse he 
felt; but still, on the other hand, he was sent by his nation to avenge the death of two of 
its most valiant warriors; and their ghosts would not be appeased until the blood of Poe 


WYANDOT COUNTY. 


555 


wag shed. There, he said, he lay in this conflict of mind until about midnight. The 
duty he owed to his nation, and the spirits of his departed friends, aroused him. He seized 
his knife and tomahawk, and crept to the bedside of his sleeping host. Again the kind¬ 
ness he had received from Poe stared him in the face ; and he said, it is mean, it is un¬ 
worthy the character of an Indian warrior to kill even an enemy, who has so kindly treated 
him. He went back to his pallet, and slept until morning. 

His kind host loaded him with blessings, and told him that they were once enemies, but 
now they had buried the hatchet and were brothers, and hoped they would always be so. 
Rohn-yen-ness, overwhelmed with a sense of the generous treatment he had received 
from his once powerful enemy, but now his kind friend, left him to join his party. 

He said the more he reflected on what he had done, and the course he had pursued, the 
more he was convinced that he had done right. This once revengeful savage warrior, was 
overcome by the kindness of an evening, and all his plans frustrated. 

This man became one of the most pious and devoted of the Indian converts. Although 
a chief, he was as humble as a child. He used his steady influence against the traders and 
their fire-water. 

On the bank of the river, half a mile above Upper Sandusky, is a 
huge sycamore, which measures around, a yard from its base, 37 feet, 
and at its base over 40 feet. On the Tyemochte, about 6 miles 
west, formerly and perhaps now stands, another sycamore, hollow 
within, and of such generous proportions, that Mr. Wm. Brown, a 
surveyor, now residing in Marion, with 4 others, several years 
since, slept comfortably in it one cool autumnal night, and had plenty 
of room. 

It was to this county that the celebrated Simon Kenton was 
brought captive, when taken by the Indians. We have two anec¬ 
dotes to introduce respecting him, communicated orally by Major 
James Galloway of Xenia, who was with him on the occasion. The 
first illustrates the strength of affection which existed among the 
early frontiersmen, and the last their vivid recollection of localities. 

In January, 1827, I was passing from Lower Sandusky, through the Wyandot reser¬ 
vation, in company with Simon Kenton. We stopped at Chaffee’s store, on the Tye¬ 
mochte, and were sitting at the fire, when in stepped an old man dressed in a hunting shirt, 
who, after laying his rifle in a corner, commenced trading. Hearing my companion’s voice, 
he stepped up to him and inquired, “ are you Simon Kenton?” he replied in the affirma¬ 
tive. “ I am Joseph Lake,” rejoined he. Upon this, Kenton sprang up as if by electricity, 
and they both, by a simultaneous impulse, clasped each other around the neck, and shed 
tears of joy. They had been old companions in fighting the Indians, and had not met for 
30 years. The scene was deeply affecting to the bystanders. After being an hour or two 
together, recalling old times, they embraced and parted in tears, never again expecting to 
meet. 

While travelling through the Sandusky plains, Kenton recognized at the distance of half 
a mile, the identical grove in which he had run the gauntlet, in the war of the revolution, 
forty-nine years before. A further examination tested the truth of his recollection, for 
there was the very race-path still existing, in which he had ran. It was near a road lead¬ 
ing from Upper Sandusky to Bellefontaine, 8 or 10 miles from the former. I expressed my 
surprise at his remembering it. “ Ah !” replied he, “ I had a good many reasons laid on 
my back to recollect it.” 

Little Sandusky, on the Sandusky river, in the south part of the 
county; Cary, on the line of the Mad river railroad, in the western 
part; M’Cutchensville, on or near its north line, and Marseilles, in 
the southwest part, on the Bellefontaine road, are small but thriving 
villages, containing each about 200 inhabitants. Oregon, Mexico, 
Tyemochte, Crawfordsville, Bowshersville and Wyandot are smaller 
places. 


ADDENDA, 

HISTORICAL, DESCRIPTIVE AND STATISTICAL. 

This addenda consists in part of articles received too late for in¬ 
sertion in the body of the work, as well as of those that could not 
well be introduced there. 


OHIO. 

Ohio,* the northeastern of the western states, is bounded north by Michigan and Lake 
Erie ; east by Pennsylvania and Virginia; south by the Ohio river, which separates it from 
Virginia and Kentucky ; and west by Indiana. It is between 38° 30' and 42° n. lat., and 
between 80° 35' and 84° 47' w. Ion., and between 3° 31/ and 7° 41' w. Ion. from W. It 
is 210 miles long from north to south, and 200 miles broad from east to west; containing 
40,000 square miles, or 25,600,000 acres. The population in 1790, was 3,000 ; in 1800, 
45,365; in 1810, 230,760 : in 1820, 581,434; in 1830, 937,637; in 1840, 1,519,467; 
being the third in population in the United States. Of these, 775,360 were white males; 
726,762 do. females; 8,740 were free colored males; 8,603 do. females. Employed in 
agriculture, 272,579: in commerce, 9,201; in manufactures and trades, 66,265; in mining, 
704; navigating the ocean, 212 ; do. rivers, canals and lakes, 3,323, learned professions, 
5,663. 

The number of counties in which it is divided, was, in 1830, 73; in 1840, 79, and in 
1847, 83. Columbus, on the Scioto, just below the confluence of the Whetstone, is the 
seat of government; but Cincinnati is the largest and most commercial city. 

The interior of the state, and the country bordering on Lake Erie, are generally level, 
and in some places marshy. From one-quarter to one-third of the state, comprehending 
the eastern and southeastern part, bordering on the Ohio river, is generally hilly and 
broken. The interval lands on the Ohio, and several of its tributaries, have great fertility. 
On both sides of the Scioto, and of the Great and Little Miami, are the most extensive 
bodies of rich and level land in the state. On the head waters of the Muskingum and Scioto, 
and between the Scioto and the two Miami rivers, are extensive prairies, some of them low 
and marshy, producing a great quantity of coarse grass, from 2 to 5 feet high ; other parts 
of the prairies are elevated and dry, with a very fertile soil, though they are sometimes 
called barrens. The height of land which divides the waters which fall into the Ohio from 
those which fall into Lake Erie, is the most marshy of any in the state ; while the land on 
the margins of the rivers is generally dry. Among the forest trees are black walnut, oak 
of various species, hickory, maple of several kinds, beech, birch, poplar, sycamore, ash of 
several kinds, pawpaw, buckeye, cherry and white-wood, which is extensively used as a 
substitute for pine. Wheat may be regarded as the staple production of the state, but In¬ 
dian corn and other grains are produced in great abundance. Although Ohio has already 
become so populous, it is surprising to the traveller to observe what an amount of forest is 
yet unsubdued. 

The summers are warm and pretty regular, but subject, at times, to severe drought. 
The winters are generally mild, but much less so in the northern than in the southern part 
of the state. Near Lake Erie, the winters are probably as severe as in the same latitude 
on the Atlantic. In the country for 50 miles south of Lake Erie, there are generally a 
number of weeks of good sleiging in the winter; but in the southern part of the state, the 
snow is too small in quantity, or of too short continuance, to produce good sleighing for 
any considerable time. In the neighborhood of Cincinnati, green peas are produced in 
plenty by the 20th of May. In parts of the state, near marshes and stagnant waters, fevers 


* The above concise geographical and statistical description of Ohio, is principally 
abridged from Sherman & Smith’s Gazetteer of the United States. 






ADDENDA. 


557 


and agues and billiou9 and other fevers are prevalent. With this exception, the climate 
is healthy. 

Salt springs have been found on Yellow creek, in Jefferson county; on the waters of 
Killbuck, in Wayne county; on Muskingum river, near Zanesville; and at various other 
places. Bituminous coal is found in great quantities in the eastern part of the state, and 
iron ore in various places. 

The Ohio river, which gives name to the state, washes its entire southern border. This 
river is 908 miles long, from Pittsburgh to its mouth, by its various windings, though it is 
only 614 in a straight line. Its current is gentle, with no falls excepting at Louisville, 
Ky., where there is a descent of 22£ feet in two miles, but this has been obviated by a 
canal. For about half the year it is navigable for steamboats of a large class, through its 
whole course. The Muskingum, the largest river which flows entirely in the state, is 
formed by the junction of the Tuscarawas and Walholding rivers, and enters the Ohio at 
Marietta. It is navigable for boats 100 miles. The Scioto, the second river in magnitude 
flowing entirely within the state, is about 200 miles long, and enters the Ohio at Ports¬ 
mouth. Its largest branch is the Whetstone or Olentangy, which joins it immediately above 
Columbus. It is navigable for boats 130 miles. The Great Miami is a rapid river in the 
western part of the state, 100 miles long, and enters the Ohio in the southwest corner of 
the state. The Little Miami has a course of 70 miles, and enters the Ohio 7 miles above 
Cincinnati. The Maumee is 100 miles long, rises in Indiana, runs through the northwest 
part of this state, and enters Lake Erie at Maumee bay. It is navigable for steamboats to 
Perrysburg, 18 miles from the lake, and above the rapids is boatable for a considerable dis¬ 
tance. The Sandusky rises in the northern part of the state, and, after a course of about 
80 miles, it enters Sandusky bay, and thence into Lake Erie. The Cuyahoga rises in the 
north part of the state, and, after a curved course of 60 miles, enters Lake Erie at Cleve¬ 
land. It has a number of falls, which furnish valuable mill seats. Besides these, Huron, 
Vermilion, Black, Grand and Ashtabula rivers fall into Lake Erie. 

Lake Erie borders this state for about 150 miles, and has several harbors, among which 
the largest are made by Maumee and Sandusky bays. Besides these are the harbors of 
Huron, Cleveland, Fairport and Ashtabula. 

Among the principal literary institutions, is the University of Ohio, at Athens ; the 
Miami University, at Oxford; the Franklin College, at New Athens; the Western Reserve 
College, at Hudson ; Kenyon College, at Gambier, (Episcopal;) Granville College, at Gran¬ 
ville, (Baptist;) Marietta College, at Marietta; the Oberlin Collegiate Institute, at Oberlin ; 
Cincinnati and Woodward Colleges, at Cincinnati. Willoughby University, at Wil¬ 
loughby, is a medical institution, with a college charter. Lane Theological Seminary, 
at Cincinnati, was founded in 1829. There are also theological departments in Kenyon, 
Western Reserve and Granville Colleges, and in the Oberlin Institute ; a Lutheran theo¬ 
logical school at Columbus; two medical and one law school at Cincinnati. At all these 
institutions there were, in 1840, 1,717 students. Since 1840, other literary and scientific 
institutions have been established; among which is the Medical College, at Cleveland; 
Wittemberg College, at Springfield, and the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware. 
There were in the state 73 academies, with 4,310 students; 5,186 common and primary 
schools, with 218,609 scholars. There were 35,394 white persons, over 20 years of age, 
who could neither read nor write. 

This state has a number of important works of internal improvement. The Ohio canal 
extends from Cleveland, on Lake Erie, 307 miles, to Portsmouth, on the Ohio. It has a 
navigable feeder of 14 miles to Zanesville; one of 10 miles to Columbus; and one of 9 
miles to Lancaster; one to Athens of fifty miles; the Walholding branch of 23 miles; 
the Eastport branch of 4 miles, and the Dresden of 2 miles. This great work was begun 
in 1825, and was finished in 1832, at a cost of $5,000,000. The Miami canal extends 
from Cincinnati, 178 miles, to Defiance, where it meets the Wabash and Erie canal. The 
cost was $3,750,000. The whole distance to Lake Erie is 265 miles. The Warren 
canal, a branch of the above, extends from Middletown, 20 miles, to Lebanon. The 
Sandy and Beaver canal is to extend from the Ohio canal, at Bolivar, 76 miles, to Ohio 
river, at the mouth of Little Beaver creek. Cost estimated at $1,500,000. The Ma¬ 
honing canal extends from the Ohio canal, at Akron, 88 miles, 8 of which are in Penn¬ 
sylvania, to Beaver river, at a cost of $764,372. Milan canal extends 3 miles, to Milan, 
to which steamboats now ascend. The Mad River and Little Miami railroads form a 
continuous line from Cincinnati to Sandusky City. A railroad is partly constructed from 
the latter place, through Mansfield, Mount Vernon, to Columbus, and various routes are 
projected for railroads in different parts of the state. 

The governor is elected by the people for two years. The senators are chosen bien¬ 
nially, and are apportioned according to the number of white male inhabitants over 21 years 


558 


ADDENDA, 


of age. The number can never be less than one-third, nor more than half of the number 
of the representatives. The representatives are apportioned among the counties accord¬ 
ing to the number of inhabitants over 21; and there can never be more than 72, nor less 
than 36. 

The judges of the supreme and other courts are elected by the joint ballot of the legis¬ 
lature, for the term of seven years. 

The right of suffrage is enjoyed by all white male inhabitants, over 21 years of age, who 
have resided in the state one year next preceding the election, and who have paid or been 
assessed with a state or county tax. 

The first permanent English settlement in Ohio, was made April 7th, 1788, at Marietta ; 
and the first judicial court was held there in September of the same year, under an act of 
congress passed in 1786. The next settlement was that of Symmes* purchase, 6 miles 
below Cincinnati, in 1789. The next was made by French emigrants, at Gallipolis, in 
1791. The next was made on Lake Erie, at Cleveland and Conneaut, in 1796, by emi¬ 
grants from New England. In 1799 the first territorial legislature met at Cincinnati, and 
organized the government. Early in 1800, Connecticut relinquished her jurisdiction over 
the Western Reserve, and received a title to the land, which she sold to constitute her great 
school fund. In 1802, Ohio formed her state constitution, and was admitted to the union. i 


PUBLIC LANDS* 


In most of the states and territories lying west of the Alleghany mountains, the United 
States, collectively, as a nation, owned, or did own, the soil of the country, after the ex¬ 
tinguishment of the aboriginal Indian title. This vast national domain comprises several 
hundreds of millions of acres; which is a beautiful fund, upon which the general govern¬ 
ment can draw for centuries, to supply, at a low price, all its citizens with a freehold estate. 

When Ohio was admitted into the federal union as an independent state, one of the 
terms of admission was, that the fee-simple to all the lands within its limits, excepting 
those previously granted or sold, should vest in the United States. Different portions of 
them have, at diverse periods, been granted or sold to various individuals, companies, and 
bodies politic. 

The following are the names by which the principal bodies of the lands are designated, 
on account of these different forms of transfer ; viz: 


1. Congress Lands. 

2. U. S. Military. 

3. Virginia Military. 

4. Western Reserve. 

5. Fire Lands. 

6. Ohio Co’s. Purchase. 

7. Donation Tract. 


8. Symmes’ Purchase 

9. Refugee Tract. 

10. French Grant. 

11. Dohrman’s do. 

12. Zane’s do. 

13. Canal Lands. 

14. Turnpike do. 


15. Maumee Road Lands, 


16. School do. 

17. College do. 

18. Ministerial do. 

19. Moravian do. 


20. Salt Sections. 


Congress Lands are so called, because they are sold to purchasers by the immediate offi¬ 
cers of the general government, conformably to such laws as are, or may be, from time to 
time, enacted by congress. They are all regularly surveyed into townships of six miles 
6quare each, under authority, and at the expense of the national government. 


All Congress lands, excepting 
Marietta and a part of Steuben¬ 
ville district, are numbered as 
follows: 


VII ranges, Ohio company’s 
purchase, and Symmes’ pur¬ 
chase, are numbered as here ex¬ 
hibited : 


6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 

36 

30 

24 

18 

12 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

35 

29 

23 

17 

11 

5 

18 

17 

16 

15 

14 

13 

34 

28 

22 

16 

10 

4 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

33 

27 

21 

15 

9 

3 

30 

29 

28 

27 

26 

25 

32 

26 

20 

14 

8 

2 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

31 

25 

19 

13 

7 

1 


* This article is abridged from the Ohio Gazetteer. 





































ADDENDA. 


559 


The townships are again subdivided into sections of one mile square, each containing 
640 acres, by lines running parallel with the township and range lines. The sections are 
numbered in two different modes, as exhibited in the preceding figures or diagrams. 

In addition to the foregoing division, the sections are again subdivided into four equal 
parts, called the Northeast quarter section, Southeast quarter section, &c. And again, by 
a law of congress, which went into effect in July, 1820, these quarter sections are also 
divided by a north and south line, into two equal parts, called the east half quarter section. 
No. and west half quarter section, No. which contain eighty acres each. The 
minimum price has been reduced by the same law, from $2.00 to $1.25 per acre, cash 
down. 

In establishing the township and sectional corners, a post is first planted at the point of 
intersection ; then on the tree nearest the post, and standing within the section intended to 
be designated, is numbered with the marking iron, the range, township and number of the 
section, thus: 


R 21 
T 4 
S 30t 


R 21+ 
T 3 

S 1 


R 20 
T 4 
+S 31 

-The quarter comers are marked 1-4 south, merely. 

+R 20 
T 3 
S 6 


Section No. 16, of every township, is perpetually reserved for the use of schools, and 
leased or sold out, for the benefit of schools, under the state government. All the others 
may be taken up either in sections, fractions, halves, quarters, or half quarters. 

For the purpose of selling out these lands, they are divided into eight several land dis¬ 
tricts, called after the names of the towns in which the land offices are kept, viz: Wooster, 
Steubenville, Zanesville, Marietta, Chillicothe, etc., etc. 

The seven ranges of townships are a portion of the Congress lands, so called, being the 
first ranges of public lands ever surveyed by the general government, west of the Ohio river. 
They are bounded on the north by a line drawn due west from the Pennsylvania state line, 
where it crosses the Ohio river, to the United States Military lands, 42 miles ; thence south 
to the Ohio river, at the southeast corner of Marietta township, thence up the river to the 
place of beginning. 

Connecticut Western Reserve, often times called New Connecticut, is situated in the 
northeast quarter of the state, between Lake Erie on the north, Pennsylvania east, the 
parallel of the 41st degree of north latitude south, and Sandusky and Seneca counties on 
the west. It extends 120 miles from east to west, and upon an average 50 from north to 
south: although, upon the Pennsylvania line, it is 68 miles broad, from north to south. The 
area is about 3,800,000 acres. It is surveyed into townships of five miles square each. A 
body of half a million acres is, however, stricken off from the west end of the tract, as a 
donation, by the state of Connecticut, to certain sufferers by fire, in the revolutionary war. 

The manner by which Connecticut became possessed of the land in question, was the 
following: King Charles II, of England, pursuing the example of his brother kings, of 
granting distant and foreign regions to his subjects, granted to the then colony of Connecti¬ 
cut, in 1662, a charter right to all lands included within certain specific bounds. But as 
the geographical knowledge of Europeans concerning America, was then very limited and 
confused, patents for lands often interfered with each other, and many of them, even by 
their express terms, extended to the Pacific ocean, or South sea, as it was then called. 
Among the rest, that for Connecticut embraced all lands contained between the 41st and 
42d parallels of north latitude, and from Providence plantations on the east, to the Pacific ^ 
ocean west, with the exception of New York and Pennsylvania colonies; and, indeed, 
pretensions to these were not finally relinquished without considerable altercation. And 
after the United States became an independent nation, these interfering claims occasioned 
much collision of sentiment between them and the state of Connecticut, which was finally 
compromised, by the United States relinquishing all their claims upon, and guaranteeing to 
Connecticut the exclusive right of soil to the 3,800,000 acres now described. The United 
States, however, by the terms of compromise, reserved to themselves the right of jurisdic¬ 
tion. They then united this tract to the territory, now state of Ohio. 

Fire Lands, a tract of country so called, of about 781 square miles, or 500,000 acres, in 
the western part of New Connecticut. The name originated from the circumstance of the 
state of Connecticut having granted these lands in 1792, as a donation to certain sufferers 
by fire, occasioned by the English during our revolutionary war, particularly at New Lon- 





5G0 


ADDENDA. 


don, Fairfield and Norwalk. These lands include the five westernmost ranges of tho 
Western Reserve townships. Lake Erie and Sandusky bay project so far southerly, as to 
leave but the space of six tiers and some fractions of townships between them and the 41st 
parallel of latitude, or a tract of about 30 by 27 miles in extent. 

This tract is surveyed into townships of about five miles square each; and 
these townships are then subdivided into four quarters; and these quarter 
townships are numbered as in the accompanying figure, the top being con¬ 
sidered north. And for individual convenience, these are again subdivided, by 
private surveys, into lots of from fifty to five hundred acres each, to suit indi¬ 
vidual purchasers. 

United States Military Lands are so called from the circumstance of their having been 
appropriated, by an act of congress of the 1st of June, 1796, to satisfy certain claims of 
the officers and soldiers of the revolutionary war. The tract of country embracing these 
lands is bounded as follows: beginning at the northwest corner of the original VII ranges 
of townships, thence south 50 miles, thence west to the Scioto river, thence up said river 
to the Greenville treaty line, thence northeasterly with said line to old Fort Laurens, on the 
Tuscarawas river, thence due east to the place of beginning; including a tract of about 
4000 square miles, or 2,560,000 acres of land. It is, of course, bounded north by the 
Greenville treaty line, cast by the “ VII ranges of townships,” south by the Congress and 
Refugee lands, and west by the Scioto river. 

These lands are surveyed into townships of five miles square. These townships were 
then again, originally, surveyed into quarter townships of two and a half miles square, 
containing 4000 acres each:—and subsequently, some of these quarter townships were 
subdivided into forty lots of 100 acres each, for the accommodation of those soldiers hold¬ 
ing warrants for only 100 acres each. And again, after the time originally assigned for the 
location of these warrants had expired, certain quarter townships which had not then been 
located, were divided into sections of one mile square each, and sold by the general govern¬ 
ment, like the main body of Congress lands. 

The quarter townships are numbered as exhibited in the accompanying fig¬ 
ure, the top being considered north. The place of each township is ascer¬ 
tained by numbers and ranges, the same as Congress lands ; the ranges being 
numbered from east to west, and the numbers from south to north. 

Virginia Military Lands are a body of land lying between the Scioto and Little Miami 
rivers, and bounded upon the Ohio river on the south. The state of Virginia, from the 
indefinite and vague terms of expression in its original colonial charter of territory from 
James I., king of England, in the year 1609, claimed all the continent west of the Ohio 
river, and of the north and south breadth of Virginia. But finally, among several other 
compromises of conflicting claims which were made, subsequently to the attainment of our 
national independence, Virginia agreed to relinquish all her claims to lands northwest of 
the Ohio river, in favor of the general government, upon condition of the lands, now 
described, being guaranteed to her. The state of Virginia then appropriated this body of 
land to satisfy the claims of her state troops employed in the continental line, during the 
revolutionary war. 

This district is not surveyed into townships or any regular form: but any individual 
holding a Virginia military land warrant may locate it, wherever he chooses, within the 
district, and in such shape as he pleases, wherever the land shall not previously have been 
located. In consequence of this deficiency of regular original surveys, and the irregularities 
with which the several locations have been made; and the consequent interference and 
encroachment of some locations upon others, more than double the litigation has probably 
arisen between the holders of adverse titles, in this district, than there has in any other 
part of the state, of equal extent. 

Ohio Company's purchase is a body of land containing about 1,500,000 acres; including, 
however, the donation tract, school lands, &c., lying along the Ohio river; and including 
Meigs, nearly all of Athens, and a considerable part of Washington and Gallia counties. 
This tract was purchased of the general government in the year 1787, by Manasseh Cut¬ 
ler and Winthrop Sargeant, from the neighborhood of Salem, in Massachusetts, agents for 
the “ Ohio company,” so called, which had then been formed in Massachusetts, for the pur¬ 
pose of a settlement in the Ohio country. Only 964,285 acres were ultimately paid for, 
and of course patented. This body of land was then apportioned out into 817 shares, of 
1173 acres each, and a town lot of one-third of an acre to each share. These shares were 
made up to each proprietor in tracts, one of 640 acres, one of 262, one of 160, one of 100, 
one of 8, and another of 3 acres, besides the before mentioned town lot. 

Besides every section 16, set apart, as elsewhere, for the support of schools, every section 


2 

1 

3 

4 









ADDENDA. 561 

29 is appropriated for the support of religious institutions. In addition to which were also 
granted two six miles square townships, for the use of a college. 

But unfortunately for the Ohio company, owing to their want of topographical knowledge 
of the country, the body of land selected by them, with some partial exceptions, is the 
most hilly and sterile of any tract of similar extent in the state. 

Donation tract is a body of 100,000 acres, set off in the northern limits of the Ohio com¬ 
pany’s tract, and granted to them by congress, provided they should obtain one actual 
settler upon each hundred acres thereof, within five years from the date of the grant; and 
that so much of the 100,000 acres aforesaid, as should not thus be taken up, shall revert to 
the general government. 

This tract may, in some respects, be considered a part of the Ohio company’s purchase. 
It is situated in the no’ tliem limits of Washington county. It lies in an oblong shape, ex¬ 
tending nearly 17 miles from east to west, and about 7J from north to south. 

Symmcs' purchase , a tract of 311,682 acres of land, in the southwestern quarter of the 
state, between the Great and Little Miami rivers. It borders on the Ohio river a distance 
of 27 miles, and extends so far back from the latter between the two Miamis, as to include 
the quantity of land just mentioned. It was patented to John Cleves Symmes, in 1794, for 
67 cents per acre. Every 16th section, or square mile, in each township, was reserved by 
congress for the use of schools, and sections 29 for the support of religious institutions, 
beside 15 acres around Fort Washington, in Cincinnati. This tract of country is now one 
of the most valuable in the state. 

Refugee tract, a body of 100,000 acres of land granted by congress to certain indi¬ 
viduals who left the British provinces during the revolutionary war, and espoused the cause 
of freedom. It is a narrow strip of country, 4£ miles broad from north to south, and ex¬ 
tending eastwardly from the Scioto riVer 48 miles. It has the United States’ XX ranges 
of military or army lands north, and XXII ranges of congress lands south. In the western 
borders of this tract is situated the town of Columbus. 

French grant, a tract of 24,000 acres of land, bordering upon the Ohio river, in the south¬ 
eastern quarter of Scioto county. It was granted by congress, in March, 1795, to a number 
of French families, who lost their lands at Gallipolis, by invalid titles. Twelve hundred 
acres, additional, were afterwards granted, adjoining the above mentioned tract at its 
lower end, toward the mouth of Little Scioto river. 

DohrmavUs grant is one six mile square township, of 23,040 acres, granted to Arnold 
Henry Dohrman, formerly a wealthy Portuguese merchant in Lisbon, for and in considera¬ 
tion of his having, during the revolutionary war, given shelter and aid to the American 
cruisers and vessels of war. It is located in the southeastern part of Tuscarawas county. 

Moravian lands are three several tracts of 4000 acres each, originally granted by the 
old continental congress, July, 1787, and confirmed, by the act of congress of 1st June, 
1796, to the Moravian brethren at Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania, in trust and for the use of 
the christianized Indians living thereon. They are laid out in nearly square forms, on the 
Muskingum river, in what is now Tuscarawas county. They are called by the names of 
the Shoenbrun, Gnadenhutten and Salem tracts. 

Zane's tracts are three several tracts of one mile square each—one on the Muskingum, 
which includes the town of Zanesville—one at the cross of the Hocking river, on which the 
town of Lancaster is laid out—and the third, on the left bank of the Scioto river, opposite 
Chillicothe. They were granted by congress to one Ebenezer Zane, in May, 1796, on 
condition that he should open a road through them, from Wheeling, in Virginia, to Mays- 
ville, in Kentucky. 

There are also three other tracts, of one mile square each, granted to Isaac Zane, in the 
year 1802, in consideration of his having been taken prisoner by the Indians, when a boy, 
during the revolutionary war, and living with them most of his life; and having, during 
that time, performed many acts of kindness and beneficence toward the American people. 
These tracts are situated in Champain county, on King’s creek, from three to five miles 
northwest from Urbana. 

The Maumee land roads, are a body of lands, averaging 2 miles wide, lying along 1 
mile on each side of the road from the Maumee river at Perrysburg, to the western limits 
of the Western Reserve ; a distance of about 46 miles; and comprising nearly 60,000 
acres. They were originally granted by the Indian owners, at the treaty of Brownstown 
in 1808, to enable the United States to make a road on the line just mentioned. The 
general government never moved in the business, until February, 1823, when congress 
passed an act, making over the aforesaid lands to the state of Ohio ; provided she would, 
within 4 years thereafter, make and keep in repair, a good road throughout the aforesaid 
route of 46 miles. This road the state government has already made ; and obtained 
possession, and sold most of the land. 


71 


562 


ADDENDA. 


Turnpike lands, are forty-nine sections, amounting to 31,360 acres, situated along the 
western side of the Columbus and Sandusky turnpike, in the eastern parts of Seneca, 
Crawford and Marion counties. They were originally granted by an act of congress, on 
the 3d of March, 1827, and more specifically by a supplementary act, the year following. 
The considerations for which these lands were granted, were that the mail stages and all 
troops and property of the United States, which should ever be moved and transported along 
this road, shall pass free from toll. 

The Ohio canal lands, are lands granted by congress to the state of Ohio to aid in con¬ 
structing her extensive canals. These lands comprise over 1 million of acres, a large pro¬ 
portion of which is now (1847) in market. 

School Lands. By compact between the United States and the state of Ohio, when the 
latter was admitted into the Union, it was stipulated, for and in consideration that the 
state of Ohio should never tax the congress lands ; until after they should have been sold 
5 years; and in consideration that the public lands would thereby more readily sell, that 
the one thirty-sixth part of all the territory included within the limits of the state, should 
be set apart, for the support of common schools therein. And, for the purpose of getting 
at lands, which should, in point of quality of soil be on an average with the whole land in 
the country ; they decreed that it should be selected, by lot, in small tracts each, to wit: 
that it should consist of section number 16, let that section be good or bad, in every town¬ 
ship of congress lands; also in the Ohio company, and in Symmes’ purchases; all of 
which townships are composed of 36 sections each; and for the United States’ military 
lands, and Connecticut Reserve; a number of quarter townships, 2£ miles square each, 
(being the smallest public surveys therein, then made,) should be selected by the secretary 
of the treasury, in different places throughout the United States’ military tract; equivalent 
in quantity, to the one thirty-sixth part of those two tracts respectively. And for the 
Virginia military tract, congress enacted that a quantity of land equal to the one thirty- 
sixth part of the estimated quantity of land contained therein, should be selected by lot, in 
what was then called the “ New Purchase,” in quarter township tracts of 3 miles square 
each. Most of these selections were accordingly made: but, in some instances by the 
carelessness of the officers conducting the sales, or from some other cause, a few sections 
16 have been sold; in which case, congress, when applied to, have generally granted 
other lands in lieu thereof; as for instance, no section 16 was reserved in Montgomery 
township, in which Columbus is situated ; and congress, afterwards granted therefor, sec¬ 
tion 21, in the township cornering thereon to the southeast. 

College townships, are three 6 miles square townships, granted by congress; two of 
them to the Ohio company, for the use of a college to be established within their purchase, 
and one for the use of the inhabitants of Symmes’ purchase. 

Ministerial Lands. In both the Ohio company and in Symmes’ purchase, every section 
29, (equal to one thirty-sixth part of every township,) is reserved, as a permanent fund for 
the support of a settled minister. As the purchasers of these two tracts came from parts 
of the union where it was customary and deemed necessary to have a regular settled cler¬ 
gyman in every town, they therefore stipulated in their original purchase, that a permanent 
fund, in land, should thus be set apart for this purchase. In no other part of the state, other 
than in these two purchases, are any lands set apart for this object. 

Salt Sections. Near the centre of what is now Jackson county, congress originally re¬ 
served from sale, thirty-six sections, or one six mile square township, around and inclu¬ 
ding what was called the Scioto salt licks; also one quarter of a 5 mile square township in 
what is now Delaware county; in all, forty-two and a quarter sections, or 27,040 acres. 
By an act of congress of the 28th of December, 1824, the legislature of Ohio was authori¬ 
zed to sell these lands, and to apply the proceeds thereof to such literary purposes, as said 
legislature may think proper; but to no other purpose whatever. 


OFFICERS OF THE TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT, 

APPOINTED IN 1788, UNDER THE ORDINANCE OF CONGRESS 
Arthur St. Clair, Governor. 

Samuel H. Parsons, James M. Varnum, John Cleves Symmes, Judges. 

Winthrcp Sargeant, Secretary. William H. Harrison was subsequently appointed sec¬ 
retary of the territory ; he was afterwards elected delegate to congress. 



ADDENDA. 


563 


GOVERNORS OF THE STATE, 

AFTER THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 


Edward Tiffin, elected and sworn, 3d March, .... 1803 

Thomas Kirker,* (acting governor part of the year,) . . . 1808 

Samuel Huntington, elected and sworn in,.1808 

Return J. Meigs, do. do.* 1310 

Othniel Looker,* (acting governor part of the year,) . . . 1814 

Thomas Worthington, elected,.1814 

Ethan Allen Brown, do..1818 

Allen Trimble,* (acting governor part of the year,) .... 1822 

Jeremiah Morrow, elected,.1822 

Allen Trimble, do..1826 

Duncan McArthur, do.1830 

Robert Lucas, do.1832 

Joseph Vance, do.1836 

Wilson Shannon, do., 1838 

Thomas Corwin, do.1840 

Wilson Shannon, do.1842 

Thos. W. Bartley,* (acting governor,) ..... 1843 

Mordecai Bartley, elected,.1844 

William Bebb, do.1846 


MEMBERS OF THE CONVENTION, 


WHO FORMED THE STATE CONSTITUTION, ADOPTED IN CONVENTION AT CHILLICOTHE, 
NOVEMBER 29TH,1803. 

Edward Tiffin, President and representative from the county of Ross. 

Adams County. —Joseph Darlinton, Israel Donalson and Thomas Kirker. 

Belmont County .—James Caldwell and Elijah Woods. 

Clermont County .—Philip Gatch and James Sargent. 

Fairfield County. —Henry Abrams and Emanuel Carpenter. 

Hamilton County. —John W. Browne, Charles Willing Byrd, Francis Dunlavy, William 
Goforth, John Kitchel, Jeremiah Morrow, John Paul, John Riley, John Smith and John 
Wilson. 

Jefferson County. —Rudolph Bair, George Humphrey, John Milligan, Nathan Updegraff 
and Bezaleel Wells. 

Boss County .—Michael Baldwin, James Grubb, Nathaniel Massie and T. Worthington. 

Trumbull County. —David Abbott and Samuel Huntington. 

Washington County .—Ephraim Cutler, Benjamin Ives Gillman, John M’lntire and Ru¬ 
fus Putnam. 

Thomas Scott, secretary of the convention. 

The following embraces the names of all the members of the U. S. Senate and House 
of Representatives, who have from time to time been elected, and have represented Ohio 
in the National Congress. 


SENATORS OF CONGRESS. 


In. Out. 

William Allen, 1837-49 

Ethan A. Brown, 1822-25 

Jacob Burnet, 1828-31 

Alexander Campbell, 1809-13 

Thomas Corwin, 1845-51 

Thomas Ewing, 1831-37 

S. Griswold, 1809-09 

William H. Harrison, 1825-28 
Joseph Kerr, 1814-15 

Return J. Meigs, 1808-10 


In. Out. 

Thomas Morris, 1833-39 

Jeremiah Morrow, 1813-13 

Benjamin Ruggles, 1815-33 

John Smith, 1803-08 

Benjamin Tappan, 1839-45 

Edward Tiffin, 1807-09 

William A. Trimble, 1819-22 


Thomas Worthington, < 1810-14 


* Those marked with a star, were presidents of the senate, who were, by the constitution, 
governors for short periods only. 

















564 


ADDENDA. 


REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 


John Alexander, 

1813-17 

J. Alexander, jr.. 

1837-39 

William Allen, 

1833-35 

John W. Allen, 

1837-41 

S. J. Andrews, 

1841-43 

Levi Barber, 

$ 1817-19 
f 1821-23 

Mordecai Bartley, 

1823-31 

Reasin Beall, 

1813-15 

Philemon Beecher, 

) 1817-21 
$ 1823-29 

James M. Bell, 

1833-35 

William K. Bond, 

1835-41 

J. BrinckerhofF, 

1843-47 

Henry Brush, 

James Caldwell, 

1819-21 

1813-17 

John W. Campbell, 

1817-27 

David Chambers, 

1821-23 

John Chaney, 

1833-39 

David Clendenin, 

1815-17 

Charles G. Coffin, 

1838-39 

Eleutheros Cooke, 

1831-33 

Thomas Corwin, 

1831-40 

Benjamin S. Cowen, 

1841-43 

Joseph H. Crane, 

1829-37 

William Creighton, 

5 1813-17 
) 1827-33 

John D. Cummings, 

-47 

Frais A. Cunningham, 

-47 

John Davenport, 

1827-29 

Ezra Dean, 

1841-45 

Columbus Delano, 

-47 

William Doane, 

1839-43 

Alexander Duncan, 

{ 1837-41 
J -45 

James J. Faran, 

-47 

Paul Fearing, 

1801-03 

James Findlay, 

1825-33 

Elias Florence, 

-45 

George Fries, 

-47 

James W. Gazley, 

1823-25 

Joshua R. Giddings, 

1839-47 

Patrick G. Goode, 

1837-43 

John M. Goodenow, 

1829-31 

Thomas L. Hamer, 

1833-39 

Alexander Harper, 

1837-47 

William H. Harrison, 

5 1799-1800 
l 1816-1819 

John Hastings, 

1839-43 

Samuel Herrick, 

1817-21 

Peter Hitchcock, 

1817-19 

Elias Howell, 

1835-37 

William H. Hunter, 

1837-39 

William W. Irvin, 

1829-33 

David Jennings, 

1825-26 

P. B. Johnson, 

-45 

Benjamin Jones, 

1833-37 

William Kennon, 

$ 1829-33 
$ 1835-37 

James Kilbourne, 

1813-17 

Daniel Kilgore, 

1835-39 

Humphrey H. Leavitt, 

1831-34 

D. P. Leadbetter, 

1837-41 


A. Loomis, 

1837-38 

Robert T. Lytle, 

1833-35 

Samson Mason, 

1835-43 

Joshua Mathiot, 

1841-43 

James Matthews, 

1841-45 

Duncan M’Arthur, 

1823-25 

W. C. M’Causlen, 

-45 

J. J. M’Dowell, 

1843-47 

John M’Lean, 

1813-16 

William M’Lene, 

1823-29 

Jeremiah M’Lene, 

1833-37 

William M’Millan, 

1800-01 

William Medill, 

1839-43 

Robert Mitchell, 

1833-35 

Calvary Morris, 

1837-43 

Joseph Morris, 

1843-47 

Jeremiah Morrow, 

| 1803-13 

1 1841-43 

Francis Muhlenberg, 

‘ 1828- 

Isaac Parish, 

j 1839-41 

1 -47 

John Patterson, 

1823-25 

William Patterson, 

1833-38- 

E. D. Potter, 

-45 

Augustus L. Perril, 

-47 

N. G. Pendleton, 

1841-43 

Joseph Ridgeway, 

1837-43 

Thomas R. Ross, 

1819-25 

Joseph M. Root, 

-47 

William Russell, 

J 1827-33 
{ 1841-43 

William Sawyer, 

1843—47 

R. C. Schenck, 

1843-47 

Thomas Shannon, 

1826-27 

Matthias Shepler, 

1837-39 

James Shields, 

1829-31 

John Sloane, 

1819-29 

Jonathan Sloane, 

1833-37 

David Spangler, 

1833-37 

William Stanberry, 

1827-33 

D. A. Starkweather, j 

, 1839-41 
1845-47 

Samuel Stokeley, 

1841-43 

Bellamy Storer, 

1835-37 

Henry Swearingen, 

1839-41 

George Sweeney, 

1839-43 

Henry St. John, ■ 

1843-47 

Jonathan Taylor, 

1839-41 

John Thompson, 

[ 1825-27 
( 1829-37 

Joseph Vance, 1 

l 1821-35 
1843-47 

J. J. Vanmeter, 

-45 

Samuel F. Vinton, 

[ 1823-37 
[ 1843-47 

Taylor Webster, 

1833-39 

D. R. Tilden, 

1843-47 

Allen G. Sherman, 

-47 

John B. Weller, 

1839-45 

Elisha Whittlesey, 

1823-39 

William Wilson, 

1823-27 

John Woods, 

1825-29 

John C. Wright, 

1823-29 



ADDENDA. 


565 


CLARK COUNTY.* 

There are three old men now living in this county, viz., John 
Humphries, David Lowry and Griffith Foos, from whom we have 

f athered the following particulars respecting the early history of 
pringfield, and also some incidents connected with the first settle¬ 
ments made in the vicinity. Messrs. Humphries, Lowry and Foos, 
are all men of great respectability, and are well known to all the 
early settlers of this region of Ohio. 

John Humphries is now 83 years of age, David Lowry about 77, 
and Griffith Foos about 75. 

John Humphries came to what is now Clark county with General 
Simon Kenton, in 1799; with them emigrated six families from Ken¬ 
tucky, and made the first settlement in the neighborhood of what is 
now Springfield, north of the ground on which was afterwards located 
the town. At this time, he is the only survivor of those of his 
companions and associates who were at the time heads of families. 
Mr. Humphries speaks of a fort which was erected on Mad river, 
two miles from the site of Springfield ; this fort contained within its 
pickets 14 cabins, and was erected for the purpose of common secu¬ 
rity against the Indians. 

David Lowry came into Ohio in the spring of 1795. He built the 
first flat boat, to use his own language, “ that ever navigated the 
Great Miami river from Dayton down, which was in the year 1800.’ , 
He took the same boat to New Orleans, laden with pickled pork, 
500 venison hams, and bacon. Lowry, with one Jonathan Donnell, 
made the second settlement within what is now the limits of Clark 
county ; Demint’s was the third settlement. The first corn crop 
raised in the neighborhood of Springfield was in 1796. Two men, 
whose names were Krebs and Brown, cultivated the crop. Lowry 
hunted for the party while they were engaged in tending the crop ; 
the ground occupied was about 3 miles west of the site of Spring- 
field. He raised a crop of corn the ensuing year, and also accom¬ 
panied the party that surveyed and laid out the first road from 
Dayton to Springfield. He and Jonathan Donnell killed, in one 
season, in their settlement, 17 bears, and in the course of his life, 
he states he has killed 1000 deer; and that he once shot a she bear 
and 2 cubs in less than three minutes. 

Griffith Foos, with several other persons, came into what is now 
Springfield, in the month of March, 1801. They were in search of 
a healthy region, having become wearied with the sickly condition 
of the Scioto valley. The laying off what is now called the old 
town of Springfield, was commenced March 17th, 1801. Mr. Foos 
commenced the first public house ever kept in the place: it was a 
log house, situated on the lot directly opposite to the National hotel, 
now kept by William Werden. He opened his house in June, 1801, 


* Communicated by a resident of Springfield. 



566 


ADDENDA. 


and continued it without intermission until the 10th of May, 1814. 
He states that he and his party were days getting from Franklin- 
ton, on the Scioto, to Springfield, a distance of forty-two miles. In 
crossing Big Darby, they were obliged to carry all their goods on 
horseback, and then to drag their wagon across with ropes, while 
some of the party swam by the side of the wagon to prevent it from 
upsetting. In 1807, in consequence of the alarm which the neigh¬ 
borhood felt on account of the Indians, Mr. Foos’ house was turned 
into a fort. This was the first building erected in the place. Sami. 
Simonton erected the first frame house in the county in 1807. Wm. 
Ross built the first brick house, which is still standing on the se. 
corner of South and Market streets. 

These early settlers represent the county at that day as being very 
beautiful. North of the site of Springfield, for 14 miles, upon the 
land which is now thick with woods, there could not, from 1801 to 
1809, have been found a sufficiency of poles to have made hoops for 
a meat cart. The forest consisted of large trees, with no under¬ 
growth, and the ground was finely sodded. 

Mr. Griffith Foos speaks of an old hunter by the name of James 
Smith, from Kentucky, who was at his house in 1810, who stated 
that he was in this neighborhood fifty years previously with the 
Indians, and that up the prairie, ne. of the town of Springfield, they 
started some buffalo and elk. 

The first house of worship built in Springfield was in 1811: one 
man gave the ground—Foos gave a handsome young horse ($10) to¬ 
wards hewing the logs and preparing the shingles. It was a place 
of worship free to all denominations, and was built right south of a 
public house which stands directly west of Mill run, on the south side 
of the national road. 

The early settlers were unequalled for their kindness, honesty and 
hospitality. Mr. Foos says, that, at his raising, there were present 
40 men before breakfast, and from a distance of from 7 to 10 miles; 
and Lowry says, that at Isaac Zane’s raising, there were persons 
from 40 miles distance. 


V 


DEFIANCE COUNTY. 

The annexed description of the settlement at the junction of the 
Auglaize with the Maumee about the year 1792, is from the narra¬ 
tive of O. M. Spencer : 

On this high ground, (since the site of Fort Defiance, erected by General Wayne, in 
1794,) extending from the Maumee a quarter of a mile up the Auglaize, about two hun¬ 
dred yards in width, was an open space, on the west and south of which were oak woods, 
with hazel undergrowth. Within this opening, a few hundred yards above the point, on the 
steep high bank of the Auglaize, were five or six cabins and log houses, inhabited princi¬ 
pally by Indian traders. The most northerly, a large hewed log house, divided below into 
three apartments, was occupied as a warehouse, store, and dwelling, by George Ironside, 
the most wealthy and influential of the traders on the point. Next to his were the houses 



ADDENDA. 


567 


of Pirault, (Pero,) a French baker, and M’Kenzie, a Scot, who, in addition to merchandiz¬ 
ing, followed the occupation of a silversmith, exchanging with the Indians his brooches, 
ear-drops, and other silver ornaments, at an enormous profit, for skins and furs. Still far¬ 
ther up were several other families of French and English ; and two American prisoners, 
Henry Ball, a soldier taken at St. Clair’s defeat, and his wife, Polly Meadows, captured at 
the same time, were allowed to live here, and by labor to pay their masters the price of 
their ransom ; he by boating to the rapids of the Maumee, and she by washing and sew¬ 
ing. Fronting the house of Ironside, and about fifty yards from the bank, was a small 
stockade, enclosing two hewed log houses, one of which was occupied by James Girty, 
(brother of Simon,) the other, occasionally, by M’Kee and Elliot, British Indian agents, 
living at Detroit. 

From this station I had a fine view of the large village more than a mile south, on the 
east side of the Auglaize, of Blue Jacket’s town, and of the Maumee river for several miles 
below r , and of the extensive prairie covered with corn, directly opposite, and forming to¬ 
gether a very handsome landscape. 


DELAWARE COUNTY. 

The following article respecting Delaware County, was commu¬ 
nicated for this work by Dr. H. C. Mann, of Delaware: 

Delaware, the county seat, was laid out in 1808, by Col. Moses Byxbe, and Hon. Henry 
Baldwin, of Pittsburgh, who had purchased a large tract of land for that purpose. They 
sold the lots at private sale at the uniform price of $30, the purchaser taking his choice. 
Joseph Barber put up the first cabin in the fall of 1807. It stood close to the Spring, and 
was made of poles, Indian fashion, fifteen feet square, in which he kept tavern. The prin¬ 
cipal settlers were Messrs. Byxbe, Wm. Little, Dr. Lamb, Solomon Smith, Elder Jacob 
Drake, (Baptist preacher,) Thomas Butler, and Ira Carpenter. In the spring of 1808, 
Moses Byxbe built the first frame house on William street, lot 70, and the first brick house 
was erected the ensuing fall, by Elder Drake, on Winter street, where Thomas Pettibone’s 
mansion now stands; being unable to get but one mason, his wife laid all the brick of 
the inside walls. The court house was built in 1815, the year in which the town was 
incorporated. The Methodists commenced the first meeting house in 1823, now the 
school house, but it was not finished for several years. The old churches of the 1st Presby¬ 
terians and the Episcopalians were built in 1825, upon the sites on which the present beau¬ 
tiful edifices were erected in 1845. The 2d Presbyterian church was erected in 1844, the 
new Methodist church in 1846, and the Lutheran church in 1835. 

The town now contains 4 taverns, one, the Hinton House, be¬ 
ing among the largest in Ohio, having over 100 rooms, 8 dry goods 
stores, 3 drug stores, 1 shoe stor#, 1 confectionary and variety store, 
and 2 small groceries ; 2 Divisions of the Sons of Temperance, 1 Odd 
Fellows Lodge, 1 Masonic Society, 2 printing offices, from which 
issue weekly the “ Olentangy Gazette,” (Whig,) by Abel Thomson, 
and the “ Loco Foco,” (Dem.,) by George F. Stay man. The latter 
commenced in 1845, the former in 1821, by Hon. E. Griswold, then 
called the “ Delaware Patron and Franklin Chronicle.” The first 
paper in town was published in 1818, by Rev. J. Drake and Jos. S. 
Hughs. Delaware also contains 2 saw mills, 1 flouring mill, 1 oil 
mill, and the woollen factory of Messrs. Howard & Sharp, carrying 
on quite an extensive business ; 8 lawyers, 7 physicians, a full quota 
of mechanics, 275 dwellings, and about 2000 inhabitants, including 
South Delaware, which properly belongs to it, though not included 
in the corporation. The Delaware Bank, with a capital of $100,000, 
is a branch of the State Bank. A bank was opened in 1812, but 
failing to get a charter the next winter, it wound up, redeeming all 



568 


ADDENDA. 


its notes; and daring the same year, a swindling concern, called the 
“ Scioto Exporting Co.” was started by a posse of counterfeiters, 
who drew in some others, but it was destroyed by the citizens be¬ 
fore they could get a large amount of paper afloat. 

Ohio Wesleyan University was chartered in 1842, and the pre¬ 
paratory department opened the following year, and the college 
regularly organized in the fall of 1845. The present faculty con¬ 
sists of Rev. Edward Thomson, M. D., president and professor of 
moral science and belleslettres; Rev. Frederick Merrick, A. M., 
prof, natural science; Rev. Herman M. Johnson, A. M., prof, an¬ 
cient languages and literature; Rev. L. D. M’Cabe, prof, mathe¬ 
matics ; William G. Williams, A. B., principal of preparatory de¬ 
partment, and E. C. Merrick, A. B., assistant. The college library 
consists of over 1000 volumes, obtained by donations, and is con¬ 
stantly increasing. Connected with it is a cabinet gallery of paint¬ 
ings, in which are several splendid specimens of artistical skill. 
The laboratory will this year be supplied with ample chemical and 
philosophical apparatus. There are two literary societies connected 
with the institution, each of which has a hall with suitable furniture, 
and a small library. The tuition is $30 in the college, and $20 in 
the preparatory department. 

Endowment. —This university received nothing from government, but originated in the 
liberality of the citizens of Delaware, embracing all denominations, who donated the build¬ 
ing and ten acres of land, valued at $10,000. Five acres adjoining, including the Pres¬ 
ident’s house, at $5,000—a farm near Marion, at $10,000—other lands at $2,000, and 
notes $45,000, all obtained by subscription, making a total amount of $72,000. These 
scholarship notes were obtained in various parts of the state, each one hundred dollars en¬ 
titling the debtor to five years tuition, the interest payable annually. Last year the receipts 
were, interest on notes, $2,500, rent of farm, $300, tuition, $1,000 ; total, $3,800. Ex¬ 
penses for professors’ salaries, $3,350. A new and elegant chapel of limestone is now 
erecting, and will be finished in 1848. Its cost is to be defrayed from the proceeds of a 
small 8vo. volume of original sermons, 45 in number, by the elder Methodist ministers. It 
has just issued from the press, (June, 1847,) and the first edition of 5000 vols. sold in six 
weeks. This manifestation of spirit, connected with the fact that the first annual cata¬ 
logue exhibits an array of 162 pupils, warrants the conclusion that the institution is des¬ 
tined to flourish remarkably. It must be so, as this is the only college in the state under 
the control of the Methodists, who in the saAe bounds number 150,000 communicants, 
just being properly awakened in the important cause of education. 

History .—The first settlement in the county was made May 1st, 
1801, on the east bank of the Olentangy, five miles below Delaware, 
by Nathan Carpenter and Avery Powers, from Chemango county’ 
N. Y. Carpenter brought his family with him, and built the first 
cabin near where the farm house now stands. Powers’ family came 
out towards fall, but he had been out the year before to explore the 
country and select the location. In April, 1802, Thomas Celler, 
with Josiah McKinney, from Franklin county, Pa., moved in and’ 
settled two miles lower down, and in the fall of 1803, Henry Perry, 
from Wales, commenced a clearing and put up a cabin in "Radnor’ 
three-fourths of a mile south of Delhi. In the spring of 1804, Aaron’ 
John, and Ebenezer Welch, (brothers,) and Capt. Leonard Monroe’ 
from Chenango, N. Y., settled in Carpenter’s neighborhood, and the 
next fall Col. Byxbe and his company, from Berkshire, Mass., settled 


ADDENDA, 


569 


on Alum creek, and named their township Berkshire. The settle¬ 
ment at Norton, by William Drake, and Nathaniel Wyatt; Lewis 
settlement, in Berlin, and the one at Westfield, followed soon after. 
In 1804, Carpenter built the first mill in the county, where the fac¬ 
tory of Gun, Jones, & Co. now stands. It was a saw mill, with a 
small pair of stones attached, made of boulders, or “ nigger heads,” 
as they are commonly called. It could only grind a few bushels a 
day, but still it was a great advantage to the settlers. When the 
county was organized, in 1808, the following officers were elected, 
viz.: Avery Powers, John Welch and Ezekiel Brown, commission¬ 
ers. Rev. Jacob Drake, treasurer, Dr. Reuben Lamb, recorder, 
and AzariaTi Root, surveyor. The officers of court were Judge 
Belt, of Chillicothe, president, Josiah M’Kinney, Thomas Brown 
and Moses Byxbe, associate judges ; Ralph Osborn, prosecuting at¬ 
torney, Solomon Smith, sheriff, and Moses Byxbe, jr., clerk. The 
first session was held in a little cabin that stood north of the sulphur 
spring. The grand jury sat under a cherry tree, and the petit jury 
in a cluster of bushes on another part of the lot, with their consta¬ 
bles at a considerable distance to keep off intruders. 

Block-houses.— This being a border county, during the last war, 
danger was apprehended from the Indians, and a block-house was 
built in 1812, at Norton, and another, still standing on Alum creek, 
7 miles e. from Delaware; and the present dwelling of L. H. 
Cowles, Esq., ne. corner of Main and William streets, was con¬ 
verted into a temporary stockade. During the war this county fur¬ 
nished a company of cavalry, that served several short campaigns 
as volunteers, under Capt. Elias Murray, and several entire compa¬ 
nies of infantry were called out from here at different times by Gov. 
Meigs, but the county never was invaded. 

Drake's Defeat. —After Hull’s surrender, Capt. Wm. Drake formed 
a company of Rangers in the northern part of the county to protect 
the frontier from marauding bands of Indians who then had nothing 
to restrain them ; and when Lower Sandusky was threatened with 
attack, this company, with great alacrity obeyed the call to march 
to its defence. They encamped the first night a few miles beyond 
the outskirts of the settlement. In those days the captain was a 
great wag, and naturally very fond of sport, and being withal desi¬ 
rous of testing the courage of his men, after they had all got asleep 
he slipped into the bushes at some distance, and discharging his gun, 
rushed towards the camp yelling Indians 1 Indians ! with all his 
might. The sentinels, supposing the alarm to proceed from one of 
their number, joined in the cry and ran to quarters; the men sprang 
to their feet in complete confusion, and the courageous attempted to 
form on the ground designated the night before in case of attack; 
but the first lieutenant, thinking there was more safety in depending 
upon legs than arms , took to his heels and dashed into the woods. 
Seeing the consternation and impending disgrace of his company, 
the captain quickly proclaimed the hoax and ordered a halt, but the 
lieutenant’s frightened imagination converted every sound into In- 
72 


570 


ADDENDA. 


dian yells and the sanguinary war-whoop, and the louder the captain 
shouted, the faster he ran, till the sounds sank away in the distance, 
and he supposed the captain and his adherents had succumbed to the 
tomahawk and the scalping-knife. Supposing he had been asleep a 
few minutes only, he took the moon for his guide and flew for home, 
but having had time to gain the western horizon she led him in the 
wrong direction, and after breaking down sapplings and running 
through brush some ten miles through the woods, he reached Radnor 
settlement just at daybreak, bare-headed and with his garments flow¬ 
ing in a thousand streams. The people, roused hurriedly from their 
slumber, and horrified with his report that the whole company was 
massacred but him who alone had escaped, began a general and 
rapid flight. Each conveyed the tidings to his neighbor, and just 
after sunrise they came rushing through Delaware, mostly on horse¬ 
back, many in wagons, and some on foot, presenting all those gro¬ 
tesque appearances that frontier settlers naturally would, supposing 
the Indians close in their rear. Many anecdotes are told, amusing 
now to us who cannot realize their feelings, that exhibit the varied 
hues of courage and trepidation characterizing different persons, 
and also show that there is no difference between real and supposed 
danger, and yet those actuated by the latter seldom receive the sym¬ 
pathies of their fellows. One family, named Penry, drove so fast that 
they bounced a little boy, two or three years old, out of the wagon, 
near Delaware, and did not miss him till they had gone five or six miles 
on their way to Worthington, and then upon consultation concluded 
it was too late to recover him amid such imminent danger, and so 
yielded him up as a painful sacrifice! But the little fellow found 
protection from others, and is now living in the western part of the 
county. One woman, in the confusion of hurrying off, forgot her 
babe till after starting, and ran back to get it, but being peculiarly 
absent minded she caught up a stick of wood from the chimney cor¬ 
ner, and hastened off, leaving her child again quietly sleeping in the 
cradle ! A large portion of the people fled to Worthington, and 
Franklinton, and some kept on to Chillicothe. In Delaware, the men 
who could he spared from conveying away their families, or who 
had none, rallied for defence, and sent scouts to Norton to reconnoi¬ 
tre, where they found the people quietly engaged in their ordinary 
avocations, having received a message from the captain ; but it was 
too late to save the other settlements from a precipitate flight. Upon 
the whole it was quite an injury to the county, as a large amount 
of produce was lost from the intrusion of cattle and the want of 
hands to harvest it; many of the people being slow in returning, 
and some never did. Capt. Drake, with his company, marched on 
to Sandusky, to execute the duty assigned him, without knowing the 
effect produced in his rear. He has since been associate judge, and 
filled several other offices in the county, and is still living, respected 
by his neighbors, and characterized by hospitality and good humor, 
and his strong penchant for anecdote and fun. 

Early Customs .—I learn from the old pioneers that during the early period of the county 


ADDENDA. 


571 


the people were in a condition of complete social equality ; no aristocratic distinctions 
were thought of in society, and the first line of demarkation drawn was to separate the 
very bad from the general mass. Their parties were for raisings and log rollings, and the 
labor being finished, their sports usually were shooting and gymnastic exercises with the 
men, and convivial amusements among the women ; no punctilious formality, nor ignoble 
aping the fashions of licentious Paris, marred their assemblies, but all were happy and en¬ 
joyed themselved in seeing others so. The rich and the poor dressed alike ; the men gen¬ 
erally wearing hunting shirts and buckskin pants, and the women attired in coarse fabrics 
produced by their own hands ; such was their common and holiday dress; and if a fair 
damsel wished a superb dress for her bridal day, her highest aspiration was to obtain a 
common American cotton check. The latter, which now sells for a shilling a yard, then 
cost one dollar, and five yards was deemed an ample pattern ; silks, satins, and fancy 
goods, that now inflate our vanity and deplete our purses, were not then even dreamed of. 
The cabins were furnished in the same style of simplicity ; the bedstead was home-made, 
and often consisted of forked sticks driven into the ground with cross poles to support the 
clapboards or the cord. One pot, kettle, and frying-pan, were the only articles considered 
indispensable, though some included the tea-kettle ; a few plates and dishes upon a shelf 
in one corner, was as satisfactory as is now a cupboard full of china, and their food rel¬ 
ished well from a puncheon table. Some of the wealthiest families had a few split bottom 
chairs, but as a general thing, stools and benches answered the place of lounges and sofas, 
and at first the green sward or smoothly leveled earth served the double purpose of floor 
and carpet. Whisky toddy was considered luxury enough for any party—the woods fur¬ 
nished abundance of venison, and corn pone supplied the place of every variety of pastry. 
Flour could not for some time be obtained nearer than Chillicothe or Zanesville ; goods 
were very high, and none but the most common kinds were brought here, and had to be 
packed on horses or mules from Detroit, or wagoned from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, 
thence down the Ohio river in flat boats to the mouth of the Scioto, and then packed, or 
hauled up. The freight was enormous, costing often $4,00 per ton. Tea retailed at from 
two to three dollars a pound, coffee 75 cents, salt $5 to $6 per bushel, (50 lbs.) The 
coarsest calicoes were $1 per yard, whisky from $1 to $2 per gallon, and as much of 
the latter was sold as of all other articles, for several years after Delaware was laid out; 
but it must be remembered that this then was the border town, and had considerable trade 
with the Indians. It was the common practice to set a bottle on each end of the counter, 
for customers to help themselves gratuitously to enable them to purchase advantageously ! 
Many people suffered hardships and endured privations that now would seem insupporta¬ 
ble. In the fall of 1803, Henry Perry, after getting up his cabin near Delhi, left his two 
eons and returned to Philadelphia for the remainder of his family, but finding his wife sick, 
and afterwards being sick himself, could not get back till the next June. These two little 
boys, Levi and Reuben, only eleven and nine years old, remained there alone, eight 
months, fifteen miles from any white family, and surrounded by Indians, with no food but 
the rabbits they could catch in hollow logs; the remains of one deer that the wolves killed 
near them, and a little corn meal that they occasionally obtained of Thomas Cellar, by 
following down the “ Indian trace.” The winter was a severe one, and their cabin was 
open, having neither daubing, fire-place, nor chimney; they had no gun, and were wholly 
unaccustomed to forest life, being fresh from Wales, and yet these little fellows not only 
struggled through but actually made a considerable clearing ! Jacob Foust, at an early 
day, when his wife was sick and could obtain nothing to eat that she relished, procured a 
bushel of wheat, and throwing it upon his shoulders, carried it to Zanesville to get it ground, 
a distance of more than 75 miles, by the tortuous path he had to traverse, and then shoul¬ 
dering his flour retraced his steps home, fording the streams and camping out nights. 

Biography. —Colonel Moses Byxbe was for several years the most prominent man in the 
county, being the owner of some 8000 acres of valuable land in Berkshire and Berlin, and 
joint owner with Judge Baldwin of about thirty thousand acres more, the sale of which he 
had the entire control. These were military lands, which he sold on credit, at prices vary¬ 
ing from two and a half to ten dollars an acre. He possessed a complete knowledge of 
human nature, and was an energetic and prompt business man. Upon the organization of 
the county he was elected one of the associate judges, and continued to hold the office till 
1822. He was afflicted with partial insanity before he died, which occurred in 1827, at the 
age of 67. 

Solomon Smith, Esq., was born in New Salem, N. H., and came here with Col. Byxbe 
in 1804. He was the first sheriff in the county, and was the first justice of the peace in the 
township, which office he held, by repeated elections, more than twenty years. He was 
also the first post-master, and continued many years in that capacity. The responsible 


572 


ADDENDA. 


offices of county treasurer and county auditor he also filled for many years, and discharged 
the duties of all these stations with an accuracy seldom excelled, and a fidelity never ques¬ 
tioned. In him was exhibited an instance of a constant office-holder and an honest man, 
and for a long time he possessed more personal popularity than any other man in the county. 
He died of congestive fever, at Sandusky City, on his return from New York, July 10th, 
1845, in his 58th year, and his remains were brought here for interment. 

Hon. Ezekiel Brown was born in Orange county, N. Y., in 1760, and moved to North¬ 
umberland county, Pa., when about ten years old. In 1776, he volunteered and marched 
to join Washington’s army, which he reached just after the battle of Trenton. He partici¬ 
pated in four different engagements, and in ’78, joined a company of rangers, called out 
against the Indians. On the 24th of May, when out scouting with two others, they came 
across a party of fifteen Indians watching a house, and were themselves discovered at the 
same moment. The Indians fired and killed one man, and Brown and his comrade in¬ 
stantly returned the fire, wounding an Indian, and then fled. The other escaped, but he 
was not fleet enough, and was captured. They were Delawares and Cayugas, and first 
took him to Chemung, an Indian town on Tioga river, where he had to run the gauntlet, 
being badly beaten, and received a severe wound on his head from a tomahawk, but he 
succeeded in reaching the council-house without being knocked down. After a few days, 
they resumed their march to the north, and met Colonel Butler with a large body of British, 
tories and Indians, on their way to attack Wyoming, and he was compelled to run the 
gauntlet again to gratify the savages. This time he did not get through, being felled by a 
war-club and awfully mangled. He recovered, and proceeded on to the main town of the 
Cayugas, where Scipio, N. Y., now stands, and having again passed the gauntlet ordeal 
successfully, he was adopted by a family, in the place of a son killed at Fort Stanwix. 
Afterwards he was taken to Canada, and kept to the close of the war in ’83, when he re¬ 
ceived a passport from the British general, M’Clure, and returned, after an absence of five 
years, to his friends in Pennsylvania. In 1800, he moved to Ohio, and in 1808, he settled 
near Sunbury, and was immediately elected one of the first county commissioners. After¬ 
wards he was elected associate judge, and served in several minor offices, and died about 
five years ago, leaving the reputation of an upright man. 

Captain John Minter, from Kentucky, one of the early settlers in Radnor, and brother- 
in-law of Col. Crawford, who was burnt by the Indians, was, in his younger days, a great 
hunter, and became famous for a terrible bear fight, in which he came very near losing his 
life. When hunting alone one day, he came across a very large bear and fired at him. 
The bear fell, and re-loading his gun, Minter advanced, supposing him dead, and touched 
his nose with the muzzle of the gun, when he instantly reared upon his hind legs to seize 
him. Minter fired again, which increased his rage, only inflicting a flesh wound, and then 
threw his hatehet at him; and as the bear sprang forward to grasp him, he struck him with 
the rifle on the head with all his might, producing no other effect than shivering the gun to 
pieces. Too late then to escape, he drew his big knife from its sheath and made a plunge 
at his heart, but old Bruen,by a stroke of his paw, whirled the knife into the air, and enfold¬ 
ing its weaponless owner with his huge arms, both rolled to the ground. A fearful struggle 
then ensued between the combatants: one ruled by unvarying instinct, and the other 
guided by the dictates of reason. The former depended wholly upon hugging his adver¬ 
sary to death, while the latter aimed at presenting his body in such positions as would best 
enable him to withstand the vice-like squeeze till he could loosen the grasp. He was about 
six foet in height, possessing large bones and well developed muscles, and being properly 
proportioned, was very athletic. The woods were open and clear of underbrush, and in 
their struggles they rolled in every direction. Several times he thought the severity of the 
hug would finish him ; but by choking the bear, he would compel him to release his hold to 
knock off his hands, when he would recover his breath and gain a better position. After 
maintaining the contest in this way several hours, they, happily for him, rolled back near 
•where his knife lay, which inspired him with buoyant hope, but he had to make many in¬ 
effectual efforts before he could tumble the bear within reach of it. Having finally re¬ 
covered it, he stabbed him at every chance till he at last bled to death, only relaxing his 
hold when life became extinct. He attempted to get up, but was too mueh exhausted, and 
crawling to a log, against which he leaned, his heart sickened as he contemplated the scene. 
Not a rag was left on him, and over his back, arms and legs his flesh was lacerated to the 
bones by the claws of the bear. By crawling and walking he reached home after night, with 
no other covering than a gore of blood from head to foot. His friends, who went out next 
morning to survey the ground and bring in the trophy, said the surface was torn up by 
them over a space of at least half an acre. After several weeks he recovered, but he carried 
.with him the cicatrices and welts, some of which were more than a quarter of an inch thick, 


ADDENDA. 


573 


CiR he died, which occurred about 15 years ago. He never desired another bear hug, but 
gave up hunting, and turning his attention to agriculture, left his children a comfortable 
patrimony and a good name. 

• ^ e Y' S' Hnghes, from Washington, Pa., came to Delaware in 1810, and organ¬ 

ized the first Presbyterian church here, and also those in Liberty and Radnor. For a short 
time, he was chaplain in the army, and was with Hull when he surrendered, at which time 
he returned. The societies being unable to pay much salary, he sought his support mainly 
from other sources, serving several years as clerk of the court, and afterwards in the capa¬ 
city of editor. He possessed a liberal education, superadded to oratorical powers of a supe¬ 
rior order by nature. As an orator he is described as being graceful, mellifluous, persuasive 
and convincing, and he has left the reputation among many of the old settlers of being the 
most effective speaker that they have ever heard. In the social circle, too, he excelled, but 
unfortunately he had an indomitable penchant for festivity and sport. Many anecdotes are 
related detracting from his clerical character, and when dwelt upon, we must not forget to 
associate the habits and customs of the times in which they occurred. For instance, it is 
said that one time, on the occasion of a wedding at Capt. Minter’s, after the ceremonies 
had been solemnized and the luxuries duly honored, he started off about dusk to go to a 
place some five miles through the woods, but after dark returned somewhat scratched by 
the bushes, and reported having been lost, and concluded to stay till morning. According 
to the general custom on such occasions, all the young folks in the settlement had assembled 
for a frolick, and they charged him with having returned to participate with them, and as 
he was a good musician, and their “ knight of the bow” had disappointed them, they in¬ 
sisted upon his playing the fiddle for them to dance, which he did all night, with an occa¬ 
sional intermission for refreshment or to romp! Some of the old citizens say also that he 
was a good hand at pitching quoits, and as it was common to choose sides and pitch for the 
“ grog,” he seldom even then backed out! For these and other charges he was arraigned 
before the presbytery, where, declining all assistance, and relying on his own ingenuity and 
eloquence, he made a successful defence. He continued to preach as “ stated supply” till 
he was suddenly cut off by an epidemic fever in the fall of 1823, and was interred in the 
old burying ground, but no tombstone points out the place where his mouldering remains 
lie. He was succeeded in 1824 by Rev. Henry Vandeman, the first installed pastor, and 
who has retained his charge ever since, a fact that is mentioned, because in the west preach¬ 
ers seldom retain a pastoral charge so long, and in this presbytery there is no similar in¬ 
stance, excepting that of Dr. Hodge, of Columbus. 

Antiquities. —The remains of ancient fortifications are found in three places in the 
county, the most remarkable of which is in the lower part of Liberty, about eleven miles 
below Delaware, on the east bank of the Olentangy. 

Indian Villages. —There were formerly two villages belonging to the Delawares, mostly 
within the limits of the present town of Delaware. One occnpied the ground around the 
east end of William street, and the other was at the west end, extending from near the saw¬ 
mill to the hill side. Upon the ground now occupied by the town, they cultivated a corn¬ 
field of about four hundred acres. The Mingoes had a small village half a mile above 
town, on “ horse shoe bottom,” where they also raised corn. 

Many of the old pioneers entertained towards the Indians an inveterate hatred, and did 
not consider it really criminal even to murder them. One time, after the last war, a dead 
Indian was seen floating down the Scioto on two logs, lashed together, having his gun and 
all his accoutrements with him. He had been shot, and the people believed the murderer 
was George Shanon, who had been in service considerably during the war, and one time 
when out, not far from Lower Sandusky, with a small company, fell in with a party of 
W'arriors and had to retreat. He lingered behind till he got a shot, and killed one. As 
soon as he fired, several Indians sprang forward to catch him alive, but being swift on foot, 
he could easily keep ahead, when he suddenly came to an open field, across which he had 
to run or be cut off. The Indians gained the first side just as he was leaping the fence on the 
other and fired at him, one ball entering his hip. He staunched the blood by stuffing the 
hole with a portion of his shirt, that they might not track him, and crawled into the brush; 
but they gave up the chase, thinking they had not hit him, and being convinced of his su¬ 
perior fleetness. Shanon got into camp and was conveyed home, but he was always lame 
afterwards, and fostered an unrelenting desire for vengeance towards the whole race, not 
excepting the innocent and harmless. As late as 1820, two Indians were murdered on 
Fulton’s creek. A party came down there to hunt, as was customary with them every fall, 
and Henry Swartz ordered them off. They replied, “ no! the land belongs to the white 
man—the game to the Indian,” and insisted that they were friends and ought not to be dis¬ 
turbed. A few days after, two of their number were missing, and they hunted the entire 


574 


ADDENDA. 


country over without finding them, and at last found evidence of human bones where there 
had been a fire, and immediately charged Swartz with killing and burning them. They 
threatened vengeance on him, and for several years after he had to be constantly on his 
guard to prevent being waylaid. It was never legally investigated, but the neighbors all 
believed that Swartz, aided probably by Ned Williams, murdered and disposed of them in 
the manner the Indians suspected, and at one time talked of driving them out of the settle¬ 
ment. They were considered bad men, and never prospered afterwards. 

Norton, 10 miles n. of the county seat; Waldo, 12 do.; Wood¬ 
bury, 12 ne. ; Westfield, 12 nne. ; Edin, 6 e.; Sunbury, 12 e.; Lock- 
win, 16 sse. ; Galena, 12 se.; Stratford, 3 e. ; Williamsville, 10 s.; 
Belle Point, 7 sw.; Milleville, 6 w.; Delhi, 8 nw., and Middletown, 
13 miles nw., are all villages in the county of less than 200 inhabi¬ 
tants, but several of them handsome and thriving. 


SIGNIFICATION AND ORIGIN OF THE NAME OHIO. 

The Shawanoese called the Ohio river, Kisjiepija Sepe , i. e., 
Eagle river. The Wyandots were in the country generations be¬ 
fore the Shawanoese, and consequently their name of the river is 
the primitive one, and should stand in preference to all others. 
Ohio may be called an improvement on the expression, 0,he,zuh, and 
was no doubt adopted by the early French voyagers in their boat 
songs, and is substantially the same word as used by the Wyandots : 
the meaning applied by the French, fair and beautiful, “la belle 
rivere,” being precisely the same as that meant by the Indians— 
great, grand and fair to look upon.* 


GALLIA COUNTY. 


The annexed article respecting the Scioto company and its connection with the Ohio 
company, has been communicated to us by the venerable Ephraim Cutler, of Washington 
county. Judge Cutler is the son of Rev. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, who was the agent for the 
New England Ohio company, in making the contract with congress for their lands. His 
opportunities for accurate information upon this subject, renders his testimony of great his¬ 
torical value. 

The Scioto land company has been the subject of considerable 
mystery, and the cause of much misrepresentation. I am not pre¬ 
cisely informed concerning its origin. It was probably started 
during the negociation of Dr. Cutler with the old congress, in 1787, 
for the Ohio company purchase. Dr. Cutler arrived in New York' 
July 5th, and carried on his negociations for a week; he was then 
absent another week on a visit to Philadelphia, where the convention 
that formed our federal constitution was sitting. On his return to 
New York, the project for the Scioto company was broached to him 
by Col. William Duer, as appears by the following extract from the 
Dr.’s journal. “ Colonel Duer came to me with proposals from a 


* Col. John Johnston. 






ADDENDA. 


575 


number of the principal characters in the city, to extend our contract , 
and take in another company”* 

The arrangements of Dr. Cutler with the government, made room 
for another company . But this other association was entirely dis¬ 
tinct from the Ohio company. Yet it has been represented that the 
Ohio company was concerned in the alledged wrongs towards the 
French emigrants of 1790, w T ho were induced to come over in ex¬ 
pectation of beneficial acquisitions of land in this quarter, by the 
agency of Joel Barlow. But this imputation is entirely groundless. 
What were the actual regulations and doings of the Scioto company 
previous to or connected with that agency, I have never learned. 
Dr. Cutler contracted for a million and half acres for the Ohio com¬ 
pany. In connection with his negociation, the “ board of treasury” 
were empowered to sell all west of the 7th range, up to the north¬ 
west corner of T. X, to the Scioto, and south to the Ohio. This 
would have included Zanesville and Columbus. It was estimated 
at five million acres—much below the actual amount. 

The arrangements and objects of the Ohio company and the Scioto 
company are believed to have been very different. The aim of the 
Ohio company was, actual settlement by shareholders. The lands 
obtained were ultimately to be allotted in shares, of which no one 
was to hold more than five shares. 

The object of the Scioto company seems to have been, solely and 
simply, land speculation; to purchase of congress—nominally, at 
two-thirds of a dollar per acre—paying mostly in continental paper 
money, at that time passing at enormous discount—so that, in fact, 
the actual cost, per acre, might not be more than eight or ten cents, 
then to sell at prices which would yield them enormous profits. 

That any dishonest intention was entertained by Colonel Duer, 
or the other associates of the Scioto company, I have no belief. Dr. 
Cutler speaks of the association as comprising “some of the first 
characters in America.” Their object, no doubt, was to make large 
profits by the purchase and sale of public lands. 

It is understood that Joel Barlow was by them authorized to offer 
lands in France, and to invite French emigrants; but of his au¬ 
thority or instructions, we have no specific information. In this 
matter, the Ohio company had as little concern as in the South Sea 
bubble. 

But the splendid project of the Scioto company was blighted. 
Probably they expected to purchase public securities, to pay for 
their purchase of congress, at the excessively low rates of 1787. But 
the adoption of the federal constitution, and the successful estab¬ 
lishment of the federal government, under Washington and his com¬ 
patriots, raised the credit of those securities and blasted the hopes 
of speculation. Meantime, the French emigrants were coming . 


* The reader will find in the article u Ohio,” in the North American Review for Oct., 
1841, all that transpired between Dr. Cutler and Colonel Duer, at the time he made the 
purchase for the Ohio company, extracted from the private journal of the fonner. 



576 


ADDENDA. 


The Scioto company purchase was not effected, and where should 
these emigrants go ? 

Certain persons, who styled themselves “ trustees to the propri¬ 
etors of the Scioto lands,” applied to Gen. Rufus Putnam and Dr. 
Manasseh Cutler, two of the directors of the Ohio company, for the 
purchase of certain interests in this company. The persons who 
thus styled themselves “ trustees,” were William Duer, Royal Flint, 
and Andrew Cragie. They bargained with General Putnam and 
Dr. Cutler for 148 “ forfeited shares” in the Ohio company. The 8, 
3, and 160 acre lots, and the town lots, had been already allotted and 
drawn. The undrawn portions—equal to 100, 262 and 640 acres 
to each share, were to be located in a body, in the southwest corner 
of the purchase, viz.: 

Townships 1, 2, 3, in range 14. 

“ 1,2, 3, 4, 5, “ 15. 

“ 1, 2, 3, “ 16. 

“ 1 2 3 4 “ 17. 

And so much of south of T. 4—R. 16, 
and T. 5--R. 17, 

as would make up in all 196,544 acres, in this compact body. 

This contract was ratified by the Ohio company. The lands for 
the French settlement of Gallipolis, (which is in the 14th range,) were 
located and occupied, I suppose, in consequence of this arrange¬ 
ment. General Putnam, as agent for Duer & Co. 7 provided, at some 
$2,000 expense, for the accommodations of the French emigrants 
there, and by the failure of Duer & Co., had to lose most or all of it. 

The Scioto company not only failed in securing the large purchase 
contemplated, but did not succeed in obtaining the interest for which 
they stipulated in the lands of the Ohio company. They did not 
pay, and the contract with Putnam and Cutler became a nullity. 
All that was required by the contract was, that the Scioto company 
associates should pay as much proportionably, as the Ohio company 
were to pay congress, and relinquish to the Ohio company the pre¬ 
emption right, which the Scioto company was understood to have in 
reference to lands lying north of the Ohio company’s location. All 
was failure on the part of the Scioto company. The French emi¬ 
grants were planted at Gallipolis, and General Putnam was left to 
pay some $2,000 expended in behalf of the Scioto company. 

It is rather surprising that any complaint should have been made 
against the Ohio company for selling the lands in and about Galli¬ 
polis to the French, for $1.25 per acre. It was, in truth, an act of 
favor and courtesy, in deference to the misfortunes of the French. 
The Ohio company was under no obligation to them. They had no 
agency in inviting or deceiving them. How much blame there was 
in the case, and to whom it belonged, we are not now able to decide. 
Barlow was poetic—but we know not that he was intentionally false. 
Most probably the emigrants were greatly beguiled by their own 
vivid imaginations. We may well enough suppose there was more 
poetry than truth in the whole concern. 


72 

444 

474 

127 

35 

43 

49 

45 

66 

98 

444 

452 

166 

126 

149 

201 

257 

259 

355 

368 

432 

517 

157 

317 

166 

493 

444 

60 

127 

298 

522 

104 

117 

190 

290 

80 

157 

203 

243 

340 

376 

420 

426 

467 

469 

555 

202 

288 

353 

125 

189 

352 

277 

392 

397 

435 

215 

400 

368 

123 


INDEX, 


577 


TO CITIES AND PRINCIPAL VILLAGES. 


Clifton, 

201 

Jeffersonville, 

166 

Conneaut, 

39 

Junction, 

397 

Columbiana, 

111 

Kalida, 

427 

Coshocton, 

115 

Kenton, 

241 

Columbus, 

170 

Kingsville, 

45 

Covington, 

365 

Kingston, 

444 

Croghansville, 

446 

Kirtland, 

282 

Cuyahoga Falls, 

476 

Lancaster, 

158 

Dayton, 

369 

La Porte, 

317 

Defiance, 

144 

Lafayette, 

337 

Delaware, 

146 

Leesburg, 80,252 

Deerfield, 

420 

Leesville, 

119 

Dover, 

491 

Lewistown, 

304 

Dresden, 

392 

Lexington, 

432 

Eaton, 

421 

Lebanon, 

400 

Edingburg, 

521 

Lima, 

28 

Ellsworth, 

342 

Liverpool, 

110 

Elyria, 

314 

Little Sandusky, 

555 

Enon, 

96 

Loudonville, 

36 

Euclid, 

127 

Logan, 

255 

Fairfield, 

201 

London, 

337 

Fairport, 

280 

Lowell, 342 

,517 

Fairview, 

205 

Lower Sandusky, 446 

Felicity, 

100 

Manchester, 

28 

Findlay, 

238 

Martinsville, 

66 

Franklinton, 

169 

Martinsburg, 

277 

Freeport, 

244 

Maumee City, 

327 

Frederickton, 

277 

Manhattan, 

332 

Franklin Mills, 

418 

Marion, 

344 

Frankfort, 

444 

Malta, 

381 

Franklin, 

502 

Mansfield, 

430 

Galeon, 

119 

Masillon, 

468 

Gallipolis, 

185 

Marysville, 

495 

Gambier, 

276 

Marietta, 

512 

Garrettsville, 

420 

M’Arthurs town, 

54 

Georgetown, 

69 

M’Connelsville, 

379 

Germantown, 

376 

Mechanicsburg, 

84 

GiUford, 

111 

Medina, 

347 

Gilead, 

541 

Middletown, 78 

,206 

Gnadenhutten, 

493 

Milford, 

100 

Gratiot, 

393 

Milan, 

154 

Granville, 

295 

Millersburg, 

256 

Greenfield, 

255 

Miamisburg, 

374 

Greenville, 

141 

Middlebury, 

476 

Hamilton, 

73 

Morristown, 

66 

Hanover, 

110 

Mt. Pleasant, 237,272 

Harrison, 

327 

“ Vernon, 

275 

Harrisville, 262, 348 

“ Gilead, 

344 

Hanging Rock, 

291 

“ Eaton, 

521 

Harmar, 

517 

Montgomery, 

237 

Harveysburg, 

505 

Monroeville, 

259 

Hebron, 

298 

Mogadore, 

420 

Hillsborough, 

250 

Napoleon, 

249 

Higginsport, 

72 

Nashville, 

257 

Huron, 

157 

Nelsonville, 

49 

Jamestown, 

201 

Neville, 

100 

Jackson, 

263 

Newark, 

293 

Jacksontown, 

298 

Newville, 

432 

Jeromeville, 

36 

Newton Falls, 

482 

Jefferson, 

43 

New Carlisle, 

96 


73 


New Haven, 259 

New Richmond, 100 

New Lisbon, 107 

New Madison, 143 

New Market, 252 

New Concord, 292 

New Lexington, 400 

New Paris, 426 

N. Philadelphia, 488 

Niles, 483 

Norwalk, 257 

Norwich, 392 

Oberlin, 315 

Ohio City, 125 

Oxford, 79 

Parkman, 190 

Paris, 259 

Painsville, 279 

Petersburg, 252 

Perrysburg, 540 

Piqua, 360 

Piketon, 412 

Plymouth, 259 

Poland, 342 

Pomeroy, 350 

Port Clinton, 396 

Port Jefferson, 466 

Portsmouth, 457 

Providence, 332 

Putnam, 390 

Ravenna, 414,473 
Rehobeth, 400 

Republic, 463 

Reynoldsburg, 176 

Ripley, 71 

Richmond, 272, 281 
Roscoe, 116 

Rossville, 73 

Russelville, 72 

Salem, 109 

Sandusky City, 158 

St. Clairsville, 57 

St. Marys, 353 

Scipio, 463 

Senecaville, 205 

Seville, 348 

Section Ten, 498 

Shelby, 432 

Sidney, 465 

Sinking Spring, 252 

Smithfield, 272 

Somerville, 79 

South Charleston, 96 
Somerset, 398 

Springfield, 94 

Spring Valley, 201 

Springboro’, 505 

Strongville, 127 

Steubenville, 270 

Sunbury, 149 






578 GENERAL INDEX. 


Tallmadge, 

478 

Tarlton, 

412 

Taylorsville, 

392 

Tiffin, 

462 

Thorn ville. 

400 

Toledo, 

329 

Troy, 

359 

Twinsburg, 

478 

Unionville, 

288 

Union Village, 

501 

Urbana, 

81 


Utica, 293 

Upper Sandusky, 453 
Van Wert, 496 
Vermillion, 157 
Wapakoneta, 29 
Washington, 163, 204 
Warren, 272 

Waterville, 332 
Wadsworth, 348 
Waverly, 413 

, Waynesburg, 469,521 


Waynesville, 

503 

Watertown, 

517 

West Jefferson, 

337 

West Union, 

27 

West Liberty, 

312 

Wellsville, 

109 

Wheelersburg, 

457 

Williamsburg, 

98 

Wilmington, 

101 

Willoughby, 

281 

Wiltshire, 

497 


Winchester, 

28,162 

Worthington, 

169 

Woodsfield, 

368 

Wood ville. 

453 

Wooster, 

519 

Youngstown, 

341 

Xenia, 

197 

Zanesfield, 

312 

Zanesville, 

384 

Zoar, 

491 


GENERAL INDEX. 


Abbott, David, escape of, 156 

Alder, Jonathan, captivity of, 333 

Alligator, the, 298 

Alarm, false, 475 

Anecdote, singular legal, 490 

Ancient works, 40, 53, 294, 298, 361, 

375, 410,413,457, 503,515 
Appleseed, Johnny, eccentricities of, 431 
Armstrongs, the notice of, 166 

Assoc. Ref. Theo. Seminary, 78 

Bark Cutters, the, 28 

Badger, Rev. J., 45, 482 

Bank, Gallipolis, 185 

Baptist church, first in Ohio, 

Battise, John, 

Ball, Col., squadron of, attacked. 

Bears attacked by ladies, 

“ desperate fight with, 

Benham, Capt., attack on, 

Beaverhat, town of. 

Big Bottom attacked. 

Black Hoof, sketch of, 

Blue Jacket, sketch of, 

Blind, institution for the. 

Black Swamp described, 

Blannerhasset’s' Island, 

Bodily exercises, 

Boquet’s expedition, 

Bockingehelas, notice of, 

Boone, Daniel, anecdotes of, 

Bowman, expedition of, 

Bradstreet’s expedition, 

Bradley, Capt., skirmish of, 

Brady’s Leap, 

Brannon, sentence of, 

Breckenridge, reminiscences of, 182 

Brown, Jim, the counterfeiter, 475 

British attack Fort Stephenson, 447 

Butler, Gen., death of, 129 

Bullit, Capt., boldness of, 190 

Buskirk’s Battle, 270 

Burlington storm, 294 

Burr’s Conspiracy, 18 

Captina, battle of, 55 


Cass, Major, allusion to, 76, 381 

Cascade at Clifton, 201 

Canal lands, 558 

Canals, commencement of, in Ohio, 19 

Catholic church, 1st in Ohio, 400 

Church, 1st in Cincinnati, 213 

Cholera, 224 

Chillicothe, old, 190 

Chicago, signification of, 324 

Child, first born in Ohio, 487 

Cleveland, Gen., notice of, 120 

Clarke Co., history of, in addenda, 565 

Clarke, Gen., expedition of, 357 

destroys Loramie’s store, 464 


229 

Coal, Pomeroy, 


341 

242 

Coal, cannel, 


204 

452 

Coshocton campaign. 


114 

47 

Courts, primitive, 

193, 337, 

508 

572 

Columbia settled, 


206 

498 

Colleges, Athens, 


49 

515 

« 

Central, 


176 

377 

€• 

Cincinnati, 


219 

33 

iC 

Franklin, 


244 

34 

€C 

Granville, 


295 

173 

IC 

Kenyon, 


276 

245 

a 

Medical, 

124, 220, 

281 

514 

« 

Muskingum, 

392 

46 

(C 

Marietta, 


512 

111 

€6 

Oberlin, 


314 

146 

(C 

Ohio Wesleyan, 


148 

191 

C< 

St. Xavier’s, 


219 

192 

IC 

Western Reserve, 


473 

150 

a 

Wittemberg, 


95 

397 

ct 

Woodward, 


219 

419 

College lands, 


558 

434 

Cold Winter, the. 


345 


Colored Persons, settlement of, 71, 355, 465 
Community, German, at Zoar, 491 

Congress, members of, 000 

Convention, members of the state. 

Congress lands, 558 

Cornstalk, death of, 409 

Copus’s, their cabin attacked, 430 

Crawford, Col., notice of, 117 


Cranberry marsh. 


burning and defeat of, 542 


119 







GENERAL INDEX, 


579 


Curry, Col. Jas., 494 

Customs, early, 76, 151, 160, 254, 274, 


366, 

434, 570 

Darlinton, Gen., notice of. 

26 

Davis, Samuel, escape of. 

260 

Deserters executed. 

76, 437 

Deserted camp, 

101 

Deaf and Dumb Asylum, 

174 

Defiance at an early day. 

566 

Delaware tribe, sketch of. 

146 

“ reservation. 

343 

Diver, shot by an Indian, 

410 

Donalson, Israel, captivity of, 

22 

Downing, escape of. 

23 

Dog, hanging of a. 

26 

“ sacrificed. 

460 

Dominican Friars, Convent of. 

399 

Dohrman’s Grant, 

558 

Donation tract. 

558 

Drake’s defeat, amusing anecdotes of, 569 

Drouth of 1845, 

189 

Dunlap’s station attacked. 

210 

Dunkards, the 

257 

Dunmore, expedition of, 

405 

“ narrow escape of. 

409 

Dunlavy, Judge, notice of. 

501 

Dudley, defeat of. 

533 

Edgingtons, attack on the, 

25 

Ellison, Andrew, captivity of. 

25 

Elliott, Colonel, death of. 

222 

“ Captain, the renegade, 

337 

Emlen Institute, 

355 

English settlement, first, in Ohio, 

7 

Erie, signification of, 

150 

Ewing, Major George, 

511 

Explosion of Gunpowder, 

521 

Fallen Timbers, battle of the. 

318 

Female, sharp shooting of a, 

126 

Fire-lands, the, 150, 

330, 558 

Fire, distressing, 

228 


Forts Amanda, 34; Ball, 462 ; Campus 
Martius, 508; Defiance, 144, 317; 
Deposite, 318; Dilies, 54; Findlay, 
238 ; Gower, 49 ; Greenville, 143 ; 
Harmar, 506 ; Hamilton, 74; Jeffer¬ 
son, 128; Junandat, 150 ; Laurens, 
487 ; Loramie, 464; M’Arthur, 240 ; 
Meigs, 528, 539 ; Miami, 319 ; Piqua, 
363 ; Recovery, 138 ; St. Marys, 353 ; 
St. Clair, 421; Sandusky, 150 ; Sen¬ 
eca, 458 ; Stephenson, 446; Steuben, 


270; Washington, 209. 

Fossil remains, 53 

Fountain, the white sulphur, 148 

French policy, 36 

“ ancient relic of, 313 

“ traders, 49, 120, 150, 328, 456, 463 

“ fort at Piqua attacked, 363 

“ grant, 456,558 

“ early*explorations of, 5 


“ settlement of English attacked by, 463 


French settle Gallipolis, 177, 574 

Freshet of 1832, 224 

Funks, the fighting family of, 165 

Gallipolis, settlement of, 177, 574 

George, Captain, killed by M’Mahon, 480 
Girty’s, the, 246 

Gorge in rocky fork of Paint creek, 250 

Governors of Ohio, 562 

Grave-yard, ancient, 40, 115 

Greenville treaties, 142 

Greene, Mrs., captivity of, 160 

Greene county, early times in, 193 

Greentown Indians, 428 


Harpers, privations of the, 42 

Hamer, Gen., notice of, 71 

Harrison, Gen., tomb and biography of, 231 
“ letter to Chilton, 322 

u interview with Tecumseh, 90 

“ “ “ Chambers, 529 

“ attempt to assassinate, 458 

Hardin, Col., defeat of, 13 

“ notice of, 240 

Hewit, Moses, captivity and escape of, 51 
Hermit of the Scioto, 443 

Hinkson, Col., notice of, 103 

Hillman, Col., anecdotes of, 338 

Hocking, wild scenery in, 253 

Hotel, first at Zanesville, 385 

Hunt, Josiah, anecdotes of, 199 

“ Abner, death of, 211 

“ a grand, 346 

Huntington, Gov., anecdote of, 280 

Hughes, Jesse, the Indian fighter, 292 

Hurricane Toms, 413 

Hudson, David, settlement of, 470 


Indian, pleasing feature in character of, 168 


“ method of trading, 274 

“ “ “ hunting, 345 

“ delicacy of an, 418 

“ game of ball, 30 

“ customs, 31 

“ murders, 55 

Indians, Delaware, notice of, 145, 343 
“ Miami, signification of the name, 356 

“ Shawanoese, “ “ “ 363 

“ Wyandot tribe, history of, 550 

“ Piqua tribe, origin of the, 362 

“ last treaty with, 549 

Iron region of Ohio, 288 

" ore, smelting of, 342 


Jerks, the, 46 

Johnny-cake, a huge, 47 

John, Captain, ferocity of, 165 

Johnson boys, heroism of, 268 

Johnston, Col. John, notice of, 362 

“ Captain, notice of, 364 

Kenton, General, biography of, 306 

« “ anecdotes of, 82,5/>5 

Kellys, the attack on, 288 



580 


GENERAL INDEX 


Kingsburys, the sufferings of the, 39 

Kirkwood, Captain, cabin of, attacked, 60 

Killbuck, notice of, 146, 519 

Lands, public, 558 

Lane seminary, 219 

Lasselle, Antoine, escapes hanging, 327 

Lake, artificial, largest in the world, 354 

Leatherlips executed for witchcraft, 167 

Lewis, Captain, notice of, 302 

“ “ anecdote of, 365 

Life in the woods, 62 

List of public men, 561 

Little mountain, 287 

“ Turtle, biography of, 424 

Logan, the chief, murder of his family, 264 

u “ speech of, 406 

“ “ murder of, 409 

“ General, expedition of, 299 

“ Captain, sketch of, 302 

Lowry, defeat of, 423 

Loramie, the French trader, 463 

Lunatic asylum, 172 

Lytle, General, anecdotes of, 98 299 


Map, first of Ohio, 170 

Mastodon, remains of, 118, 264 

Mach-a-chack towns destroyed, 299 

Maumee, map illustrating battles of the, 318 

“ road lands, 558 

“ valley, early history of the, 522 

“ speculations in, 540 

Mansfield, Col. Jared, notice of, 431 

Massie, General, biography of, 441 

May,-, killed by Indians, 326, 453 

M’Arthur, Duncan, anec. of, 56, 454, 455 
“ “ biography of, 439 

M’Clelland, Captain, anecdote of, 241 

M’Clellan, the spy, 324 

M’Donald, Colonel, expedition of, 382 

M’Dowel, adventures of, 454 

M’Intire, John, anecdotes of, 386 

M’Kee, Col. Alex., the renegade, 327 

M’Mahon, Major, death of, 138 

M’Pherson, Jas., notice of, 304 

Medical University, 124, 220, 281 

Methodist, first in the Scioto Valley, 435 

“ “ Ind. miss, in Miss. Valley, 552 

Meigs, Fort, siege of, 525 

“ Governor, biography of, 514 

Miller’s Bank, 413 

Mingo town, the old, 264 

Ministerial lands, 558 

Misery, scene of, 417 

Missionary, first on the Reserve, 482 

Missionaries, Moravian, 120, 155,466, 483 
Mob against Negroes, 226 

Mobs to suppress abolition, 225 

Moravian mission, first in Ohio, 467 

" lands, 558 

“ massacre, 483 

Mormons, history of, 282 

“ temple of, 283 


Morrow, Gov., residence of, 501 

Mound, large, 375 

“ at Marietta, 516 

Mount Pleasant, 161 

Mud cottage of an emigrant, 108 

Murder, execution of Indians for, 122, 258 

Narrows of Licking, 298 

Neutral Nation, the, 445 

Newspaper, first in Ohio, 215 

North Bend settled, 208 

Nunnery, Catholic, 399 

Ohio Co’s purchase and settlement, 10,506 

“ connection with the Scioto Co., 574 
“ becomes a state, 16 

“ origin of the word, 574 

“ general view of, 556 

Oliver, Capt. Wm., anecdotes of, 238, 529 

Omish, the sect of, 427 

Pack saddle, shooting with a, 263 

Paine, Gen. Edward, settles Painesville, 280 
Patriots, skirmish of, 397 

Patterson, Col. R., biography of, 372 

Penitentiary, Ohio, 175 

Perry’s victory, 394 

Phenomenon, singular, 27 

Pioneer, a story of, 348 

Pipe, Capt., 36, 343 

Piqua, attack on, 85 

“ origin of the tribe, 362 

“ Pickaway plains described, 402 

Poe, escapes assassination, 554 

Poes, the contest of the, 106 

Point Pleasant, battle of, 405 

“ “ last survivor of the, 292 

Popejoy, Esq., meth. of dispensing justice, 164 
Portage path bet. Tuscarawas and Cuya. 476 
“ between the Miamies, 363 
Prisoners, mourning of, together, 263 

Putnam, Gen. Rufus, biography of, 513 

Raccoons catching frogs, 345 

Randolph, John, slaves of, 356 

Refugee tract, 558 

Relic, ancient, 40, 313 

Reily, John, 78 


Reserve, Conn. Western, history of, 9,12, 

16,17,120, 150 
“ first landing of surveyors in, 37 

“ missionary in, 45, 482 

“ salt works in, 338, 479 


“ how settled, 188 

“ great drouth in, 189 

“ “ lands of the, 558 

Ridge, curious, 496 

Riley, Capt. Jas., 497 

Roundhead, the Wyandot chief, 242 

Rudolph, Major, fate and cruelty of, 75 

Ruffner fight, 429 


Salt, 263, 338, 349, 380, 381, 479, 412, 558 




INDEX. 


581 


St. Clair,biography of, 57 

“ defeat of, 131 

“ “ poem on the, 137 

St. Mary’s, treaty of, 353 

Sandusky, signification of, 445 

School lands, 558 

Scioto Company, It, 169, 177, 296, 574 
Scott, Gen., expedition of, 454 

Seneca Reservation, 459 

Sermon, first in Newark, 293 

Settlements, first, in Ohio, 7,10 

Shakers, 501 

Shaylor, Capt., escape of, 141 

Silver mine hoax, 392 

Slover, escape of, 404 

Smally, Wm., anecdotes of, 102 

Snake stories, 297, 342, 477, 480 

Song, Pioneer, 296 

Songs, military, 137, 540 

Spencer, O. M., taken captive, 222 

Springs, 117,118,146,148,157,200,239,463 
Squirrels, grand hunt for, 176 

Stigwanish, anecdote of, 280 

State House, first in Ohio, 436 

Steamboat, first in the west, 18 

Storrs, President, notice of, 474 

Stow, Joshua, anecdote of, 477 

Story, Rev. Daniel, first Prot. preacher, 514 
Sugar Camp settlement, 237 

Surveyors, privations of, 442 

Sum-mun-de-wat, murder of, 554 

Subterranean stream, 462 

Sweetland, Solomon, driven across L. Erie, 41 
Swift, Judge Zephaniah, grave of, 479 

Symmes’ Hole, 76 

Symmes’ purchase, 205, 558 

Symmes, Judge, notice of, 235 

Tarhe, the Crane, 159, 304, 551 

Tappan, Hon. Benj., settles Ravenna, 414 
Tecumseh, 67, 83, 88, 94,143 535, 537 
Thames, battle of, 18 

Thomas, Capt., death of, 82 

Tippecanoe, battle of, 18 

Tornado, 83, 187, 294 

Tomb, a singular, 291 

Tobacco, effect of, on snakes, 297 

Trees, 239,555 

Trimble, Col., notice of, 251 

TuppePs expedition, 187, 525 

Turnpike lands, 558 


University, Ohio Wesleyan, 148, 568 

“ Butler, 79 

United States military lands, 558 

Virginia military lands, 9, 21, 558 

Volney, anecdote of, 367 

Washington steamer burnt, 444 

Wagoners, attack on, 75 

Washburn, Neil, notice of, 99 

Warmus, the described, 254 

Walworth, Hon. John, 278 

Wayne’s victory, 318 

Wayne’s spies, 333 

Wayne, Gen., biography of, 518 

War, Ohio and Michigan, 331 

“ late, first action of, in Ohio, 394 

Wakatomaca, expedition against, 382 

Wetzel, adventures of, 56, 221 

Wet land, 98 

Wells, gas, 239 

“ ancient, 273 

“ Capt., notice of, 323 

Weddings, pioneer, 367 

Weyer, Bernard, 249 

Whiteyes, Capt., death of, 105 

Whingwy Pooshies, grief of, 168 

Wheat, low price of, 348 

“ sick, 274 

Whistler, Capt., notice of, 354 

Wilwipea, oratory of, 32 

Witchcraft, execution for, 167, 459 

Witch story, 223, 290 

Wills creek, whites attacked near, 202 

Wilderness, a home in the, 427 

Wolves, stories about, 47, 243, 275, 280,366 
Worthington, Gov., notice of, 438 

Wright, Judge, anecdote of, 489 

Wyandot reservation, 549 

“ history of the, tribe, 559 

“ mission, 552 

Young, Granny, the midwife, elect, justice, 244 

Zane, Elizabeth, heroism of, 61 

Zane, Isaac, notice of, 304 

Zane’s Trace, 384 

“ grant, 558 

Zeisberger, Rev. David, grave of, 486 


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47 




CORRECTIONS AND OMISSIONS. 

Page 12, seventh line from bottom, for “ 1787,” read 1789. 

Page 13: Harmar’s campaign has been generally denominated a defeat, and on page 13 it is said that 
“the object of the expedition in intimidating the Indians was entirely unsuccessful.” This refers to the 
ulterior object; but the immediate object, viz: the destruction of the towns and crops of the Indians, was 
fully accomplished and the expedition in this point of view successf ul. On this subject we refer to Burnet’s 
N r tes, where the objects of the campaign and its history are dwelt upon at length. 

Page 17, twentieth line from bottom, omit “ Geauga,” and substitute Franklin and Columbiana. 

Page 58, fourth line from bottom, for “ chosen,” read appointed. 

Page 84, last line, for “ log hut,” read log fort. 

Page 119, place Orange, population 1114, in the list of townships in Cuyahoga county. 

Page 159, twenty-fifth line from top, for “ 1796,” read 1797. 

Page 174, tenth line from bottom, for “with its numerous workshops,” read with the penitentiary walls 

Page 177, transpose the paragraph commencing with “ Volney who came,” etc. to below the paragraph 
succeeding. 

On page 11 and on page 177 it is stated that the French settlement at Gallipolis was made in 1790. The 
authorities whom we have consulted differ, some dating the settlement at 1791 and others as we have it. 

Other and trivial errors have been discovered by us; but they are not liable to mislead, as the reader will 
readily detect them, and are therefore not noted here. 

In a part of the edition, some of the above errors have been corrected. 


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